I would be heartbroken if Brady got lost

Six and a half years ago Dave and I went shopping for a computer and came home with a dog instead. We made the mistake of stopping in the pet store next to the computer store and bringing a puppy into the love room. Bad, bad, bad idea. We should have known when he peed in the back seat of the car on the way home that we were in for trouble.

He was 3 lbs when we brought him home. He could fit his whole head inside Dave's water glass. He was too scared to go down the stairs (although he had no problem going up the stairs). He hated his cage and cried all night. He was like a newborn - slept all day and wanted to play at night. For the first few weeks Dave and I took turns getting up in the middle of the night and throwing him a ball for 2 hours before going back to sleep. It was tiring, but we loved our Guy.

We have so many Brady stories from that first year of having a puppy and no children... Like whoever came up with the idea that dogs don't go potty or big potty where they sleep needs to be introduced to our dog - he was more than willing to do both. And he liked to eat it and throw it up where he slept so I could give him a bath when I came home from work. One time I gave him a bath after work and without thinking let him right outside to go potty. There was lots of snow on the ground. It was very cold. My father in law called and I forgot the dog was outside. By the time I remembered he was outside, his fur was frozen and he was hunched over like a puppy popsicle.

We loved having a dog. We didn't become too much like dog parents, but we definitely loved and had a great affection for our Guy. He had quite a personality and was so energetic and fun.

When I was pregnant with Nora we worried that he might get jealous of the new baby, but he didn't. He was nervous for the first 3 days (because he is a very anxious, nervous, pansy dog), but he has always been very good with our girls. He was nervous for 3 days after Ryann came home, too, but by the time we brought Georgia home he was fine with it and seemed like nothing was different.

I've always had great affection for our Guy, until Ryann came around. She was not an easy baby to get into a nap schedule and inevitably I would finally get her napping and this dumb dog would start barking at moving air molecules and wake her up. This is when the downward spiral of my feelings toward Brady began. He quickly began answering to new names - Brady and Guy were interchangeable almost immediately after we brought him home, we added Fuzz and Fuzzer soon after that, but now he was answering to Dopey, Barkley, Sir Barks A lot, and one other obscene name on bad days;)

Suddenly my affection was a little less. I kept threatening to open the door and let him run and not come home. His added noise to the sometimes unbearable amount of crying that goes on here at times, is incredibly grinding. It seems like his barking just sends me over the edge sometimes. I often tell him that I'm going to pack him into the car and drop him off on I-55 and see if he's smart enough to find his way home (he won't be... he's not such a smart dog).

But Friday night, I almost got my wish. Dave had mowed the lawn that evening and forgotten to close the gate when he came inside. When he let Woof (his newest moniker courtesy of Ryann) out before bed, he never came back - he had nosed his way out of the back yard. Dave went searching - in the dark. We had no idea where he might be, but we both figured he wouldn't be coming home that night. It was dark, it was 10:30 and the neighbors were likely in bed - not looking out their windows or back doors for the random neighbor dog who might be nosing around their yards. And the worst part... he didn't have his name tag on his collar. Such a stupid oversight - one of those things that I keep thinking I need to do, but just never get around to doing. So even if someone found him, they wouldn't know who to call.

So Dave is walking through our neighbors' yards with a flashlight and I'm standing in the driveway hoping to get a glimpse of some moving mass a few houses down. I was actually standing there praying that God would just give me a glimpse so we'd know which direction to go in. I also kept thinking, "I can't believe this happened when my next blog post is 'I would be heartbroken if Brady got lost.' " I'm cool, in case you didn't know;)

I was turning to go back inside and something caught my eye 3 houses down. Sure enough, Woof had emerged from a yard and was ready to cross the street. I yelled his name, he stopped, looked at me, I told him to stop, he looked at me once more and then took off across the street. Nice. And I want this back?

Needless to say, Dave ran over and got him and brought him home. And we were both very happy.

I have a few personal secrets... one of them is that I pretend I don't like my dog, when I really, really do like him and I would be heartbroken if he never came home.... today I'm going to finally get that tag on his collar.

QOTD:
Do you have a pet? What kind? How do you really feel about that pet?
getting to know me in 100 days - day 13

Some pictures of our Woof... he puts up with so much from me;)


During Nora's first Christmas photo shoot... he always wants to be around, but hates having his picture taken. Doesn't he look like he's glaring at me?

Here is Fuzz at Dog Day at Comisky Park (back in the day when we could afford to do such silly things:) It was so much fun - we went on a dog parade around the field before the game, then sat in the bleachers with a bunch of other (much uglier) dogs. He got free puppy ice cream, there was a grass patch and a fire hydrant in the concourse for the dogs to pee on, and he made a friend. But for most of the time he sulked underneath the seat. I think we enjoyed Dog Day much more than he did.

Me and Dopey at the Thanksgiving parade in Howell, Michigan. He enjoys getting out and sniffing new places:)