The Dogs in my life

Growing up I can't remember a time of when we didn't have a dog. My dad was an avid hunter and always had a lab. 

As for me personally my Collie/Shepard, Prince Allen the First was my, first dog. He needed a dignified name for the Mix Breed registrar but to us he was known as Prince.

He was my constant companion and my 4-H  show dog. 

Then came along Tasha. My mom had a friend who's  Doberman had puppies and I was lucky enough to receive one. 

Her and Prince became inseparable and we were quite the trio during my teenage years.

When the husband and I were young and starting a family we both knew our life wouldn't be complete without having a dog...er two.

He grew up with Airedales as his grandpa owned a kennel where he bred and sold Airedales so naturally our first puppy Frisco came all the way from Alaska.

But our second puppy wasn't far behind and we had ourselves a boxer we named Randi. Randi took to motherhood and decided she was going to be the nanny of our three boys.

The first time I took the boys on vacation for a couple of weeks, Randi was beside herself and scaled our 6 foot chainlink fence and waited in the front yard everyday until I came home with her children.

Frisco passed away first leaving Randi to morn her loss. She was really sad so we found her another Airedale we named Max.

When Randi passed away Max was in need of a companion so Jesse entered our lives.

As you can see, we had ourselves another Boxer, Airedale combination. 

Then came along Missy. Our sweet Missy who was abandoned in an orchard along with her five puppies. When I caught wind of her I grabbed one of my boys and we went on a rescue mission. 

We loaded her and her puppies up and brought them home. It wasn't long before all the pups had good families and as for Missy, well we kept her.

She was so fearful of being left again, she used to follow us out of the driveway. It wasn't uncommon to find her in the neighbors yard playing with their children when we arrived home. It only took a couple of years and she adopted the neighbors to be her family. Their kids were very young and ours were becoming teenagers. I guess she needed a family to take care of.

Our dog population started to downsize. Not in numbers but in size. We went from big to little dogs.

The husband was at work when he saw a litter of Miniature Schnauzer puppies. He called me to come take a look and  Oskar came home with us.

Oskar was my baby and took to the role perfectly. He wasn't a barker he would just sit and stare at you. He needed me to carry him when he was outside his comfort zone and followed me around everywhere.

For our youngest son's 11 birthday we surprised him with a dog of his own. He named him Jimmy.

Ah, Jimmy, a fearlessly loyal dog who loved his boy. George and Jim were inseparable. If George spent the night with a friend, Jimmy came along. Everyone he knew seemed to be ok with that. It was never just George, it was aways George and Jim.

When George practiced the piano, Jim laid under the bench. If I had any classical music playing in the house, Jimmy would run around searching for his boy. I soon realized no classical music while George was at school.

Then we got Archie. Oh my goodness if you have ever owned a Beagle you would know what a funny, naughty, incredibly cute dog they are. 

Archie was unlike any dog we have every owned. As a matter of fact, he's the reason I started a blog. I had to capture and write down his funny antics.

He was definitely the husbands dog. He would go to work with him until we discovered he had really bad eyesight then started noticing how fast his health was declining. 

Despite Archie's poor health he never let it get the better of him. He some how managed to keep a happy attitude his entire short life of 6 years.

This little guy taught me a lot.

Oskar was the last of a long line of dogs. He out lived the pack and at 14 1/2 he left us on Friday July 12, 2019.

Although I'm going to miss him terribly, I know he is with his buddies running around in doggy heaven. He never really knew how to roughhouse but he made a good referee.

The house sure has a different feel to it. I've never not had a dog but I'm thinking Oskar is my last.

 Right at the time I was at an emotional low knowing Oskar didn't have long, our son George and his wife Megan called and told us she is pregnant.

I believe the timing of their news was no coincidence, the Lord knew what I needed and nine months I'll be holding a new grand baby.