anyone who knows me well knows how much i love my dogs, and i will shamefully admit that one of my biggest fears about becoming a mom to a human child is that i won't love my dogs anymore, or even worse - that they won't love me. :( you can ask lance, i cry over this often...i did in the beginning at least. but as these nine months have gone by i have become less and less afraid of that fear coming true, because like all things in life, it is what you make it. if i am determined to love duke and claus as much as i do right now when baby finn gets here, than i will still love them, simple as that. i just hope they still love me. and i don't care if you sit there shaking your head, thinking to yourself "just you wait and see, your love for your dogs will change when finn gets here," i say shame on you because it won't. i know myself...i know i love my dogs more than is normal and natural and healthy, but that is who i am. they bring so much joy and happiness into each and every day, i really can't imagine my life without them.
and now a trip through memory lane...
{beware: this is a LONG post...no need for you to read it unless you are extremely bored!}
the decision to get a dog was a very spontaneous one. lance and i were just chillin at toad's one day while i was working, and we decided to browse the puppies for sale section on ksl. we came across duke, and it was love at first sight. i wish i still had the picture they posted of him, because he was hands down the cutest puppy i have ever seen! i am the type of person that when i see something i really want, i have to have it, and i don't sleep until i get it! lucky for me it only took two days of begging and pleading and finally my wonderful parents and lance agreed to buy him for me as an early birthday present!
duke has had us laughing from the day we brought him home. he has a huge personality for such a tiny little thing. they say the average dog has the same intelligence level of a 2-year-old, but duke is much smarter than that. he knows how to tell you what he wants, and a little like his momma, he doesn't stop until he gets it! i will never forget one day at work (i brought him to work with me for the first 6 months!) there was a cup of water up on the counter that i had been drinking out of, and duke just kept barking at it. it took me about 10 minutes to figure it out, but he was barking at the cup because he was thirsty! i mean seriously, he was only 3 months old and he could already communicate. and now, if their water/food bowls are running low, duke will bang it against the wall again and again and AGAIN until lance or i go down and fill it for him. he is just so demanding!
of my two little babies, duke is the more independent one. sometimes he will disappear for hours at a time...to the backyard where he just likes to roam and explore and play games with the birds. it is so funny! he isn't super cuddly, except every morning he will come burrow right up to me and/or lance, roll over on his back and paw at one of our heads until we start tickling his belly! that is one of my favorite times of the day. :)
duke LOVES to play fetch. i swear to you, he could play all day if you'd throw the ball for him. sometimes lance will take him over to the church parking lot (since the ball rolls further on gravel) and even when it seems like duke might pass out from exhaustion, he just rests for a few seconds then is ready to play some more! when people come to our house, duke almost instantly grabs a ball and takes it to the visitor, as if saying "welcome to our home, now let's play!" haha it is seriously the funniest thing, because we will be on the couch visiting with home teachers/visiting teachers/neighbors/friends etc... and duke will always take the ball to the visitors, never me or lance. he is a very friendly little guy, and persisitent too, because if they don't throw the ball, beware the wrath of duke...he will get down on his chubby little stomach and start growling until they do throw it. he does this with us too, and we can't help but laugh every time.
duke is SO friendly. i think a lot of it is because i took him to work with me for all those months, and people were constantly asking to pet/hold him. also, we lived in like a million different places for the first 6 months of his life - i lived in ogden, logan and woods cross all at the same time so duke had a lot of roommates and interaction with other people. the only people he isn't great with are toddlers...i think he must see them as a threat. :) we are a little worried about that, or will be in a couple years!
duke is so smart. he was potty trained in no time, and learned how to sit, lay down, and roll over all in two days! he is very obedient with lance, but won't listen to a word i say! haha there are times when i will say "duke, come here," and he will look at me for a few seconds, then turn the other way! it is funny most of the time, but scares me when he sneaks out the front door to go chase something, because i have no way of getting him back except to chase him! :) we bought a shock collar for claus when he was little (because he would whine so much) and it only took shocking duke on the lowest level one time for him to learn his lesson. i am dead serious, all we have to do now is say the words "beep beep" (bc before you shock them, you press the "beep" button) and duke will crouch real low and tuck his ears back...he knows what is coming and instantly he will stop!
we think of duke as a "mother hen." if he gets annoyed with claus, or my mom's dog chloe, he will just bark/growl at them as if saying "shut up!" but he is such a good big brother to claus, and he is so protective. when my mom had her cats, claus loved chasing them around the house. one of the cats wasn't very nice to the dogs, and would swat at them. this would completely rile claus up so he would bark and chase them and go beserk, and duke was always there at his side, defending him. :) there were a few times last summer when claus escaped from the backyard. i was busy on the computer both times and would have had no idea if it weren't for duke, who came straight to me and started barking hysterically. the first time this happened it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what was going on - i realized that i hadn't seen claus in a while, so i said to duke "where is claus?" duke ran out to the fence...right to the spot where claus escaped from...and sure enough there was claus in the neighbors backyard. the second time it happened, i was on the computer again, and duke came down to me, barked hysterically, this time it only took about 2 minutes for me to understand so i said "where is claus?" duke ran upstairs to the front window and started barking - sure enough, there was claus across the street chasing another dog. he saved his brother's life! can you believe that?!
duke and claus have the cutest relationship. they love each other so much, and it is obvious to anyone that is around them a lot. if we take one of the dogs to the vet or to get groomed and leave the other home, the one at home gets SO worried. it is kinda funny. and the second the other dog comes home, they greet each other as if they had been away from one another for days. i am so happy they have each other...it is one thing that really comforts me on those days when i get hysterical about how they will react when baby finn gets here.
i am most worried about how duke will react to finn. he is extremely possessive, and kind of acts like a prince. i think he will be the most jealous, and may have the hardest time adjusting, but i know in time he will love finn, and be the same protective, "mother hen" big brother that he is with claus. i just hope it doesn't take too much time! :)
of all that he brings to our family, his ability to make us laugh is my favorite attribute. there really is never a dull moment with duke around, and i am so grateful for the love and laughter he brings to our life. love you drawers!
and then there is claus........
claus came as a little bit of a surprise! i may have mentioned to my mom and dad once or twice that i wanted duke to have a friend...and it was right around christmas when i said that. my dad, being the concerned grandpa that he is, didn't want duke to be cooped up in our apartment alone all day, so he took it upon himself to give us another dog for christmas. lance was NOT a fan of this. he wanted to give claus back, but i was worried that would offend my dad, so i begged and pleaded on my hands and knees until lance finally gave in and agreed to keep claus. it took a lot of compromising, and there were many hard times with claus in the beginning, but it has been well worth it!
claus was not nearly as easy of a dog to potty train as duke. we couldn't put him in a crate, because he would just pee in it and sit there in it! so we tried tying him down with a potty pad next to him, but somehow he always seemed to miss the pad and just go pee straight on the tile. we could not take our eyes off him for more than a minute or - dead serious - he would pee. he peed on the couch, on the bed...just anywhere and everywhere! that apartment of ours smelled so badly of pee after living there for a year and a half, i don't know how anyone else could handle it! now that we live in a house with a fenced in back yard, i think he has gotten better...i am pretty sure he lets himself out through the doggy door... most of the time, anyway!
needless to say, lance could not handle all the peeing, so for the whole time we lived in ogden, they pretty much hated each other. although it always made me sad to see how frustrated and unhappy lance was with claus, and how terrified claus was of lance, their hatred for each other is what brought about the special bond between claus and me. he is seriously my best friend. if i am sad, or lonely, or depressed, claus is always right there by my side to comfort me and lick away my tears. never have i felt so much love from anyone or anything (i know that must sound weird, but it's true!). i can always count on claus to cheer me up on a bad day, and he makes every day better. last fall when both dogs contracted a parasite, claus almost died, and i can honestly say it was the worst day of my life. he is my pride and joy, and i don't know what i would do without him.
my favorite part of every day is coming home from work, pulling in the driveway, and seeing/hearing claus on the couch in the front window barking like a mad dog! he is always just SO excited to see me. i know that i mean the world to him, and that means so much to me. claus sleeps right by me every single night...usually curled in a ball right by my bum! :) he loves to be burrowed underneath the blankets (probably because he is so skinny and needs the warmth). just this morning i was getting ready, and the bed was still unmade. i knew duke was down on the couch but didn't see claus anywhere so i called out for him, and here he comes crawling out from under the blankets! too cute!
claus loves to go for walks. all i have to say is "wanna go for a walk?" and he starts running around in circles and whining. for a while we only had one leash, and duke needs the exercise more than claus, so i would usually take duke with me, but it just made claus so sad, so i started switching off between the two. then eventually i just bought another leash and now i take them both. claus could walk for miles and miles and miles...he loves it! by the end of our walks, duke and i are both ready to pass out but little claus could go on forever, i swear!
and now a trip through memory lane...
{beware: this is a LONG post...no need for you to read it unless you are extremely bored!}
the decision to get a dog was a very spontaneous one. lance and i were just chillin at toad's one day while i was working, and we decided to browse the puppies for sale section on ksl. we came across duke, and it was love at first sight. i wish i still had the picture they posted of him, because he was hands down the cutest puppy i have ever seen! i am the type of person that when i see something i really want, i have to have it, and i don't sleep until i get it! lucky for me it only took two days of begging and pleading and finally my wonderful parents and lance agreed to buy him for me as an early birthday present!
duke has had us laughing from the day we brought him home. he has a huge personality for such a tiny little thing. they say the average dog has the same intelligence level of a 2-year-old, but duke is much smarter than that. he knows how to tell you what he wants, and a little like his momma, he doesn't stop until he gets it! i will never forget one day at work (i brought him to work with me for the first 6 months!) there was a cup of water up on the counter that i had been drinking out of, and duke just kept barking at it. it took me about 10 minutes to figure it out, but he was barking at the cup because he was thirsty! i mean seriously, he was only 3 months old and he could already communicate. and now, if their water/food bowls are running low, duke will bang it against the wall again and again and AGAIN until lance or i go down and fill it for him. he is just so demanding!
of my two little babies, duke is the more independent one. sometimes he will disappear for hours at a time...to the backyard where he just likes to roam and explore and play games with the birds. it is so funny! he isn't super cuddly, except every morning he will come burrow right up to me and/or lance, roll over on his back and paw at one of our heads until we start tickling his belly! that is one of my favorite times of the day. :)
duke LOVES to play fetch. i swear to you, he could play all day if you'd throw the ball for him. sometimes lance will take him over to the church parking lot (since the ball rolls further on gravel) and even when it seems like duke might pass out from exhaustion, he just rests for a few seconds then is ready to play some more! when people come to our house, duke almost instantly grabs a ball and takes it to the visitor, as if saying "welcome to our home, now let's play!" haha it is seriously the funniest thing, because we will be on the couch visiting with home teachers/visiting teachers/neighbors/friends etc... and duke will always take the ball to the visitors, never me or lance. he is a very friendly little guy, and persisitent too, because if they don't throw the ball, beware the wrath of duke...he will get down on his chubby little stomach and start growling until they do throw it. he does this with us too, and we can't help but laugh every time.
duke is SO friendly. i think a lot of it is because i took him to work with me for all those months, and people were constantly asking to pet/hold him. also, we lived in like a million different places for the first 6 months of his life - i lived in ogden, logan and woods cross all at the same time so duke had a lot of roommates and interaction with other people. the only people he isn't great with are toddlers...i think he must see them as a threat. :) we are a little worried about that, or will be in a couple years!
duke is so smart. he was potty trained in no time, and learned how to sit, lay down, and roll over all in two days! he is very obedient with lance, but won't listen to a word i say! haha there are times when i will say "duke, come here," and he will look at me for a few seconds, then turn the other way! it is funny most of the time, but scares me when he sneaks out the front door to go chase something, because i have no way of getting him back except to chase him! :) we bought a shock collar for claus when he was little (because he would whine so much) and it only took shocking duke on the lowest level one time for him to learn his lesson. i am dead serious, all we have to do now is say the words "beep beep" (bc before you shock them, you press the "beep" button) and duke will crouch real low and tuck his ears back...he knows what is coming and instantly he will stop!
we think of duke as a "mother hen." if he gets annoyed with claus, or my mom's dog chloe, he will just bark/growl at them as if saying "shut up!" but he is such a good big brother to claus, and he is so protective. when my mom had her cats, claus loved chasing them around the house. one of the cats wasn't very nice to the dogs, and would swat at them. this would completely rile claus up so he would bark and chase them and go beserk, and duke was always there at his side, defending him. :) there were a few times last summer when claus escaped from the backyard. i was busy on the computer both times and would have had no idea if it weren't for duke, who came straight to me and started barking hysterically. the first time this happened it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what was going on - i realized that i hadn't seen claus in a while, so i said to duke "where is claus?" duke ran out to the fence...right to the spot where claus escaped from...and sure enough there was claus in the neighbors backyard. the second time it happened, i was on the computer again, and duke came down to me, barked hysterically, this time it only took about 2 minutes for me to understand so i said "where is claus?" duke ran upstairs to the front window and started barking - sure enough, there was claus across the street chasing another dog. he saved his brother's life! can you believe that?!
duke and claus have the cutest relationship. they love each other so much, and it is obvious to anyone that is around them a lot. if we take one of the dogs to the vet or to get groomed and leave the other home, the one at home gets SO worried. it is kinda funny. and the second the other dog comes home, they greet each other as if they had been away from one another for days. i am so happy they have each other...it is one thing that really comforts me on those days when i get hysterical about how they will react when baby finn gets here.
i am most worried about how duke will react to finn. he is extremely possessive, and kind of acts like a prince. i think he will be the most jealous, and may have the hardest time adjusting, but i know in time he will love finn, and be the same protective, "mother hen" big brother that he is with claus. i just hope it doesn't take too much time! :)
of all that he brings to our family, his ability to make us laugh is my favorite attribute. there really is never a dull moment with duke around, and i am so grateful for the love and laughter he brings to our life. love you drawers!
and then there is claus........
claus came as a little bit of a surprise! i may have mentioned to my mom and dad once or twice that i wanted duke to have a friend...and it was right around christmas when i said that. my dad, being the concerned grandpa that he is, didn't want duke to be cooped up in our apartment alone all day, so he took it upon himself to give us another dog for christmas. lance was NOT a fan of this. he wanted to give claus back, but i was worried that would offend my dad, so i begged and pleaded on my hands and knees until lance finally gave in and agreed to keep claus. it took a lot of compromising, and there were many hard times with claus in the beginning, but it has been well worth it!
claus was not nearly as easy of a dog to potty train as duke. we couldn't put him in a crate, because he would just pee in it and sit there in it! so we tried tying him down with a potty pad next to him, but somehow he always seemed to miss the pad and just go pee straight on the tile. we could not take our eyes off him for more than a minute or - dead serious - he would pee. he peed on the couch, on the bed...just anywhere and everywhere! that apartment of ours smelled so badly of pee after living there for a year and a half, i don't know how anyone else could handle it! now that we live in a house with a fenced in back yard, i think he has gotten better...i am pretty sure he lets himself out through the doggy door... most of the time, anyway!
needless to say, lance could not handle all the peeing, so for the whole time we lived in ogden, they pretty much hated each other. although it always made me sad to see how frustrated and unhappy lance was with claus, and how terrified claus was of lance, their hatred for each other is what brought about the special bond between claus and me. he is seriously my best friend. if i am sad, or lonely, or depressed, claus is always right there by my side to comfort me and lick away my tears. never have i felt so much love from anyone or anything (i know that must sound weird, but it's true!). i can always count on claus to cheer me up on a bad day, and he makes every day better. last fall when both dogs contracted a parasite, claus almost died, and i can honestly say it was the worst day of my life. he is my pride and joy, and i don't know what i would do without him.
my favorite part of every day is coming home from work, pulling in the driveway, and seeing/hearing claus on the couch in the front window barking like a mad dog! he is always just SO excited to see me. i know that i mean the world to him, and that means so much to me. claus sleeps right by me every single night...usually curled in a ball right by my bum! :) he loves to be burrowed underneath the blankets (probably because he is so skinny and needs the warmth). just this morning i was getting ready, and the bed was still unmade. i knew duke was down on the couch but didn't see claus anywhere so i called out for him, and here he comes crawling out from under the blankets! too cute!
claus loves to go for walks. all i have to say is "wanna go for a walk?" and he starts running around in circles and whining. for a while we only had one leash, and duke needs the exercise more than claus, so i would usually take duke with me, but it just made claus so sad, so i started switching off between the two. then eventually i just bought another leash and now i take them both. claus could walk for miles and miles and miles...he loves it! by the end of our walks, duke and i are both ready to pass out but little claus could go on forever, i swear!
while claus has the sweetest personality of any dog i have ever seen, he can also be very fiesty, mostly with duke. claus doesn't like to play fetch like duke does, he just likes to steal the ball (or toy, or bone) from duke! it is seriously so funny! i'll be playing fetch with duke and out of nowhere here comes claus, he will steal the ball and go hide it. he doesn't want you to throw it, he just likes taking it from duke. it makes duke so mad, but it is so funny and cute! claus and duke love to play tug of war together, and i love seeing one of them go drop a toy right in front of the other...it's like they are saying "come on brother, let's play." :)
claus is my little side-kick. he follows me everywhere. if all four of us (lance, me, duke & claus) are on the couch watching tv and i get up to go somewhere, claus immediately jumps up and follows me. he would come with me everywhere i go if he could! i think claus will be right by my side while i am taking care of finn as well...every step of the way. he will be SO sweet and patient with finn, just like he is with everyone. my biggest fear is that he will lick poor finn's face dry...claus loves to give kisses...a little too much! but i know he is going to be a great big brother, and as scared as i am that he won't love me as much, i am excited to see their relationship with one another.
love you claustrophobs, you will always be my best friend. :)
despite all the anxiety i have experienced over this during the last 9 months, i am now ready for the change. i know things will be different, but who said different wasn't good? afterall, i will be home with them all day, so maybe they will get more attention from me than they are used to? one way or another, it will all work out, and i am sure i will look back and think to myself, "why on earth was i so worried?!"
1 comment:
Becky I totally understand loving your dogs as much as you do. I have the same worries and I know you are going to be a wonderful Mom and your dogs are going to love you more and little Finn just as much. I'm so excited for you! Next week baby Finn you better be making your grand appearance!
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