Sunday, June 10, 2007

Our First Dog...



This is Louie. He is the first canine member of our little family.

Our oldest daughter was 18 months old when we decided that it was time to get a dog. Both my husband and I had always had a dog in our families growing up, and we wanted our kids to know what it was like to grow up with one, too. (Really, we never had a plan for more than one dog!!)

So, off we went to the SPCA and found Louie. He's almost exactly one year younger than our daughter, making him 9 years old now. Wow.

Anyways, Louie was a handful when we first got him. He had a thing for feet, and socks, especially. But not just socks from the laundry basket. I've known several dogs who loved to dig in the laundry for socks. No, our Louie had a real thing for the socks on your feet. I remember sitting in the rocking chair with our sleepy toddler, spending the whole time defending my feet and my socks against this dog who just couldn't get enough of them.

He eventually got over the sock thing. But he still has a thing for any type of paper product: tissues, cardboard, the kid's homework sheets.... it doesn't matter, he'll eat them all.

I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but Louie is a little short for his weight. Seriously! He's not fat- he weighs about 40 lbs- a respectable weight for any dog who would be just about 6 inches taller! But, Louie has short little legs. They work just fine, but make him look like an overgrown Corgi!

Next, I'll have to tell you the love story of Louie and Lady (don't worry, he's neutered)... which is the reason why Louie is not an "only dog".

4 comments:

walternatives said...

A dog that REALLY eats homework? Too funny! Louie is a cutie-pie.

4D said...

What a cutie! Our dog eats tissue...esp used ones..ewww!

Keep smilin!

Elizabeth said...

Our dog is our first baby. I too always grew up with a K9 in the house. It just wouldn't be a home without them. Cats too.
Louie the low rider. Too short for his weight. What a QT.

Libby,Dave, Holly and Christopher said...

We got our dog Snoopy at the spca as well. Her adjustment was quite challanging. She had seperation anxiety. She was an abused dog who was nearly starved to death when she was taken from her owners by the spca. She was close to a year old and was only 15 pounds when we got her.She was nothing but skin and bone.(she is 45 pounds now) She was such a nervous dog. Every time we left the house she would chew whatever she could find including the couch.
She actually destroyed 2 couches on us.She has come a long way. She is a perfect companion and she is my running partner. She is starting to slow down a little now but she can still manage a 20k run .
She has also been excellent with the children.I was nervous at first but we had absolutely no problems at all.

Libby