There are certain things that we cling to as children and release as we enter the world of adulthood; such as sleeping with a stuffed animal or a nightlight, stopping to smell each and every dandelion and blowing them all over the neighbor’s lawn, or walking every retaining wall in the neighborhood! But, sometimes, things that we love as children carry over into our adult life. Perhaps the child that spends countless hours with the crayons and finger paints still finds meaningful quiet time with art as an adult. Or, the pots and pans and oatmeal boxes of toddler-hood are exchanged for a complete drum set, or the perpetual room or locker decorator becomes the perpetual scrap booker.
None of those has become part of my adult life, but there was one thing that I was incredibly drawn to as a child that has only intensified as I have become an adult. That is my love of animals. As a child I was constantly covered in flea bites because I couldn’t stay away from dogs on the streets, in the parks, anywhere there was a dog, I would pet it. I would even share my ice cream cones with stray dogs! I loved animals! The most memorable birthday present as a child was my first hamster. We named her Champagne because the pet store told my parents that’s what her coloring was called. When we moved back to Portland from Rome, she became a trans-Atlantic flying hamster. She was lovingly and tearfully laid to rest under the grape arbor in my grandparents back yard with a cross made out of wooden dowels marking her grave.
The pets in my life have covered almost every genre of pet; birds, fish, cats, rodents, and finally dogs. I did not have a dog in my life until Steve and I got a dog a few years after we were married. We have been blessed with 3 dogs in our married life. We have loved all of them with our whole hearts! Each has been special and wonderful in his own way. Two of them were taken from us suddenly and tragically and both of them is deserving of their own story. But what I am amazed at tonight, is our current dog, Buddy. What amazes me is how God has granted us these wonderful creatures and manages to give us the perfect fit for our family. The heart and soul of this dog is amazing and I can’t get over it. Sometimes it just takes my breath away!
Buddy was the runt of his litter, which consisted of 14 puppies! It was a surprisingly large litter and the owner of the parent dogs took time off work to ensure each and every puppy made it. Buddy was bottle fed to supplement what he may not have been able to get from mom in the large melee of the puppy pile! To be honest, when we chose him, we picked him simply because the owner pointed him out as the littlest one. It was a chaotic scramble of puppy legs, puppy ears, puppy tongues, and puppy teeth. We could barely focus for the blur of puppy-hood romping through the yard. We heard “littlest” and picked him! The owner actually teared up as we loaded his littlest bundle in the car and drove away. We took him home and Micah named him Buddy.
The next few months were not easy as I was still enthralled in the grief of losing our second dog, Rudy, and trying to adjust to a new dog personality in the home. Buddy, for his part, grieved a bit as he had to find his way in a new family without his brothers and sisters. Then came my pregnancy depression followed by trying to potty train a dog from two of the most difficult of all breeds to potty train. Puppy classes helped me begin to form my bond with him and slowly, we all started to fit together as a family.
Our little runt-of-the-litter puppy is now two and a half years old and over 85 pounds! Much larger than the expected size! He is still in the final stages of puppy-hood which, according to our vet, will probably extend past his third birthday. He’s a big bundle of fluff and curls and goofiness and I couldn’t have asked God for a more perfect fit for our family. Buddy astounds me time and time and time again with his gentleness of soul, his depth of kindness, and submissiveness. Sure, he’s a big moose of a dog and we’ve had our share of toddler tumbles and bumps but nothing worse than what they inflict on themselves!
When Kendon was about 6 months old, I would sit him on a blanket in the kitchen while I worked. If he got fussy, I would give him some crackers to snack on. Buddy would usually be sprawled right along side of him and would never once try to take any of his snacks. The rest of the family, hey if we let food fall, it’s just fair game, but the baby was free to spread his crackers far and wide and they were never in danger of being taken. As a result, Buddy is now the only family member that Kendon will willingly share his food with! Frequently Kendon will grab the fur hanging over Buddy’s eyes and lift it up to get a look into Buddy’s eyes, then laugh and pat him. I think he sees what we see, a dog with incredibly human eyes!
This spring, to further my passion for animals, I brought two hamsters into the family. Most people assume we have hamsters for our boys. But, they aren’t the boys’ hamsters, they’re mine! I take great pleasure in having them, loving them, and watching their funny little antics. When I first brought them home, I was a little apprehensive about Buddy and hamsters. After all, he’s a dog, he’s from hunting stock, and he’s well over 80 pounds! Why did I worry? My dog has the soul of a butterfly! He simply thinks I brought two tiny little puppies into the house!
He loved my hamsters from the beginning! He would stand for hours with his head on the table by their cages, his nose plastered to the bars. He even got a kink in his neck from standing like that for so long! They, in turn, are curious about him too. They are completely accustomed to him, his smell, and his presence. In fact, when I first brought them home, the youngest hamster, Millie, was hand tame but slightly aloof and she actually seemed to prefer Buddy’s presence to mine! I started calling her Buddy’s hamster! If I had her on the couch with me, she would more often crawl over to greet Buddy than me! In time she has also become very tame and accustomed to my presence, but I still like to think of her as Buddy’s hamster! I think he does too!
When I clean their cages, I will frequently block the door with some boxes and let them run loose in the bathroom while I clean out the cages. It’s more than Buddy can stand and, after several minutes, he will leap over the boxes to join them in the fun! He follows them around, sometimes playfully poking them with his nose, but mostly just curious as to where they’re going and what they’re doing. They don’t even seem to notice unless he gets in their way, then they simply stop, raise up on their back feet and wait for him to move! Buddy and his hamsters!
I really can’t describe what it does to my heart to see the loving soul of this dog! It melts my heart! I can’t thank God enough for making him and giving him to us. Dogs, in general, are amazing creatures, and to be privileged enough to have one in our home and as part of our lives is truly amazing! I can’t think of anything more amazing about creation than the animals God has given us. What a gift! What a pleasure they bring to us! I could talk for hours about my animals and the things they do and the things I love about them! Most of my friends have other interests but are kind enough to listen to me as I extol the virtues of my animals, but I do try to curb my enthusiasm in polite society!
But one moment a while back caused me to want to write about this. I had my second hamster, Maggie, out for a bit of play. I had put her on our bed to explore a bit. Of course, Buddy was right there, with his chin resting on the bed watching and watching. Finally, he had watched all he could and up onto the bed he went. Not really surprised! And, nonchalantly Maggie went about her exploration. But, it was when she casually started to meander between his front paws and he, head down within chomping distance, casually watched her as if wondering if she was going to invite him to play a game. Snapping a photo of a mammoth dog head, bent over a chubby little hamster bum between his two front paws, I realized what a treasure he is and how fortunate we are to have him in our family. He’s worth talking endlessly about, he’s fantastically cute and funny and sweet and so much less tedious for me than trying to successfully scrapbook or paint a still life. I love him and I thank God for this gentle giant He put into our lives. And I’m thankful for the quirky love of animals that God gave me, it brings me great joy and keeps me young and, if Portland had more stray dogs, I would probably still share my ice cream cones with them!
None of those has become part of my adult life, but there was one thing that I was incredibly drawn to as a child that has only intensified as I have become an adult. That is my love of animals. As a child I was constantly covered in flea bites because I couldn’t stay away from dogs on the streets, in the parks, anywhere there was a dog, I would pet it. I would even share my ice cream cones with stray dogs! I loved animals! The most memorable birthday present as a child was my first hamster. We named her Champagne because the pet store told my parents that’s what her coloring was called. When we moved back to Portland from Rome, she became a trans-Atlantic flying hamster. She was lovingly and tearfully laid to rest under the grape arbor in my grandparents back yard with a cross made out of wooden dowels marking her grave.
The pets in my life have covered almost every genre of pet; birds, fish, cats, rodents, and finally dogs. I did not have a dog in my life until Steve and I got a dog a few years after we were married. We have been blessed with 3 dogs in our married life. We have loved all of them with our whole hearts! Each has been special and wonderful in his own way. Two of them were taken from us suddenly and tragically and both of them is deserving of their own story. But what I am amazed at tonight, is our current dog, Buddy. What amazes me is how God has granted us these wonderful creatures and manages to give us the perfect fit for our family. The heart and soul of this dog is amazing and I can’t get over it. Sometimes it just takes my breath away!
Buddy was the runt of his litter, which consisted of 14 puppies! It was a surprisingly large litter and the owner of the parent dogs took time off work to ensure each and every puppy made it. Buddy was bottle fed to supplement what he may not have been able to get from mom in the large melee of the puppy pile! To be honest, when we chose him, we picked him simply because the owner pointed him out as the littlest one. It was a chaotic scramble of puppy legs, puppy ears, puppy tongues, and puppy teeth. We could barely focus for the blur of puppy-hood romping through the yard. We heard “littlest” and picked him! The owner actually teared up as we loaded his littlest bundle in the car and drove away. We took him home and Micah named him Buddy.
The next few months were not easy as I was still enthralled in the grief of losing our second dog, Rudy, and trying to adjust to a new dog personality in the home. Buddy, for his part, grieved a bit as he had to find his way in a new family without his brothers and sisters. Then came my pregnancy depression followed by trying to potty train a dog from two of the most difficult of all breeds to potty train. Puppy classes helped me begin to form my bond with him and slowly, we all started to fit together as a family.
Our little runt-of-the-litter puppy is now two and a half years old and over 85 pounds! Much larger than the expected size! He is still in the final stages of puppy-hood which, according to our vet, will probably extend past his third birthday. He’s a big bundle of fluff and curls and goofiness and I couldn’t have asked God for a more perfect fit for our family. Buddy astounds me time and time and time again with his gentleness of soul, his depth of kindness, and submissiveness. Sure, he’s a big moose of a dog and we’ve had our share of toddler tumbles and bumps but nothing worse than what they inflict on themselves!
When Kendon was about 6 months old, I would sit him on a blanket in the kitchen while I worked. If he got fussy, I would give him some crackers to snack on. Buddy would usually be sprawled right along side of him and would never once try to take any of his snacks. The rest of the family, hey if we let food fall, it’s just fair game, but the baby was free to spread his crackers far and wide and they were never in danger of being taken. As a result, Buddy is now the only family member that Kendon will willingly share his food with! Frequently Kendon will grab the fur hanging over Buddy’s eyes and lift it up to get a look into Buddy’s eyes, then laugh and pat him. I think he sees what we see, a dog with incredibly human eyes!
This spring, to further my passion for animals, I brought two hamsters into the family. Most people assume we have hamsters for our boys. But, they aren’t the boys’ hamsters, they’re mine! I take great pleasure in having them, loving them, and watching their funny little antics. When I first brought them home, I was a little apprehensive about Buddy and hamsters. After all, he’s a dog, he’s from hunting stock, and he’s well over 80 pounds! Why did I worry? My dog has the soul of a butterfly! He simply thinks I brought two tiny little puppies into the house!
He loved my hamsters from the beginning! He would stand for hours with his head on the table by their cages, his nose plastered to the bars. He even got a kink in his neck from standing like that for so long! They, in turn, are curious about him too. They are completely accustomed to him, his smell, and his presence. In fact, when I first brought them home, the youngest hamster, Millie, was hand tame but slightly aloof and she actually seemed to prefer Buddy’s presence to mine! I started calling her Buddy’s hamster! If I had her on the couch with me, she would more often crawl over to greet Buddy than me! In time she has also become very tame and accustomed to my presence, but I still like to think of her as Buddy’s hamster! I think he does too!
When I clean their cages, I will frequently block the door with some boxes and let them run loose in the bathroom while I clean out the cages. It’s more than Buddy can stand and, after several minutes, he will leap over the boxes to join them in the fun! He follows them around, sometimes playfully poking them with his nose, but mostly just curious as to where they’re going and what they’re doing. They don’t even seem to notice unless he gets in their way, then they simply stop, raise up on their back feet and wait for him to move! Buddy and his hamsters!
I really can’t describe what it does to my heart to see the loving soul of this dog! It melts my heart! I can’t thank God enough for making him and giving him to us. Dogs, in general, are amazing creatures, and to be privileged enough to have one in our home and as part of our lives is truly amazing! I can’t think of anything more amazing about creation than the animals God has given us. What a gift! What a pleasure they bring to us! I could talk for hours about my animals and the things they do and the things I love about them! Most of my friends have other interests but are kind enough to listen to me as I extol the virtues of my animals, but I do try to curb my enthusiasm in polite society!
But one moment a while back caused me to want to write about this. I had my second hamster, Maggie, out for a bit of play. I had put her on our bed to explore a bit. Of course, Buddy was right there, with his chin resting on the bed watching and watching. Finally, he had watched all he could and up onto the bed he went. Not really surprised! And, nonchalantly Maggie went about her exploration. But, it was when she casually started to meander between his front paws and he, head down within chomping distance, casually watched her as if wondering if she was going to invite him to play a game. Snapping a photo of a mammoth dog head, bent over a chubby little hamster bum between his two front paws, I realized what a treasure he is and how fortunate we are to have him in our family. He’s worth talking endlessly about, he’s fantastically cute and funny and sweet and so much less tedious for me than trying to successfully scrapbook or paint a still life. I love him and I thank God for this gentle giant He put into our lives. And I’m thankful for the quirky love of animals that God gave me, it brings me great joy and keeps me young and, if Portland had more stray dogs, I would probably still share my ice cream cones with them!
2 comments:
You're right, dogs are amazing creatures and I am slowing learning about all the joys having a pet can bring to a family. Buddy sounds like such a sweetie and I am so happy you guys have him and the little hammies!
Great story, Joann! Love the pics, too. Keep blogging!! I think you should do a bio on each of your pets. :)
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