Puppy Love

Around this time exactly one year ago today, Roman and I were at the Humane Society to adopt a puppy. We found “Jabo” online and thought he was about the cutest puppy in the whole entire world. After calling the humane society and them telling us “yes, we still have him…but you’re the third person who’s called to ask about him today”, Roman waited for me in the parking lot until I got off work and then we drove way faster than what is legally permitted, prepared to get in a fight over a cute puppy.

Thankfully, “Jabo” was still there and we were the only ones in the shelter…so no fights ensued following our arrival. They brought him out into the lobby for us to see him, and our hearts immediately melted. They told us we could take him outside for a walk if we wanted to. Just as soon as we got outside, he got so excited that he plopped down onto his belly and scooted around using his back legs while his stubby tail wagged as fast as it could. Roman looked at me and said “yup, I want him.” And I quickly responded, “yup….he’s ours.”

Just twenty minutes later we had filled out the paperwork, paid the $80, gotten the shots and jumped in the car with our new family member. Cue the endless amount of pictures we’ve taken since then. Haha.

Jabo got renamed Duke, and then Duke acquired ten zillion nicknames….Dukey-face….Dukey-butt….waggy face….waggy butt….silly puppy….all of which he responds to. I also wrote him a song. I can’t sing it to you because, you know, this is just a blog post and not a web conference, but it goes like this:

I HAS A PUPPY DOG AND HIS NAME IS DUKE. AND HIS NAME IS DUKE. AND HIS NAME IS DUKE. I HAS A PUPPY DOG AND HIS NAME IS DUKE. AND HIS NAME IS DUUUUUUUUKE. HIS NAME IS DUUUUKE. HIS NAME IS DUUUUKE. HIS NAME IS DUKEY-DUKEY-DUKEY-DUKEY-DUKE.

I put that in all caps because it is required that you yell that song as loud as possible while scratching his butt. And no, that was not a joke. Every time I start to sing that song to him, he picks up a toy and runs to me, shoves his body between my legs and stands there while I scratch the top of his tail. Then he goes running through the house like a crazy person, ahem….dog. And it’s only truly effective if I sing it. If Roman sings it, Duke just looks around for me because he knows that it’s our song. And Roman just doesn’t get excited enough when he sings it. You have to be really super excited….

Yes, I am one of those crazy people who loves her dog way beyond what psychologists would probably accept as “normal”. Although I don’t dress him up and he doesn’t have his own room, so maybe I’m not THAT bad. (Right? RIGHT??!!!??)

Anyways….when he was exactly three months old, we adopted Duke. He has eaten at least eight pillows since then and still chases Ralph down the hallway every single day. He likes to chew on empty plastic bottles and is strong enough to pull your arm out of socket while playing tug-of-war. I know this because he’s almost done it to me…thankfully I let go in time. He’s my running buddy, he hates it when me and Roman hug, and he steals the covers off of me every. stinking. night. He goes with us to church and pretty much anywhere else he can. Shoot….if they let us we probably would have taken him on our cruise this past May. (And yes, I did cry when we left him to go on the cruise, in case you were wondering.) He loves to chase flies (or any living creature, for that matter) and can’t stand it when we play any sort of musical instrument. And he loves every type of “people” food in the whole entire universe….unless there’s a pill wrapped up inside. Then he hates all food. Then we shove the pill down his throat and he gets mad at us. So we give him some of our food as an apology. Ahem.  

Today marks exactly one year that Roman and I took home a “shelter puppy”. He was the best $80 we’ve ever spent. I truly believe God sent that dog to be a part of me and Roman’s lives…..to bring a smile to our faces when we’re in the middle of an argument…..to be a comfort when we’re feeling down…..to have a friend with unconditional love that will never betray you (although he will eat your cookie if you’re not looking).

I could continue my love-fest of my dog….but I’m pretty sure you people get the point by now. But if you’re thinking of getting a pet, I greatly encourage you to consider adopting from a local shelter. It’s much cheaper than buying a pure-bred animal, and I promise you that “mixed breeds” certainly don’t decrease the amount of affection you get in return.

Okay….I’m going home now. I miss my dog. And he wants me to sing to him.

“God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.”                      ~Genesis 1:25