Happy Post

You can't beat puppy pictures for happy, right? And so I oblige as promised...



Meet Oliver. The three years G and I were married before we bought a house were the longest time I have ever been without a dog in my life. We finally bought a house, and about a month later, I couldn't take it anymore, and we went on a search. When we went to store doing, of all things, pet adoptions, all the other dogs were barking like crazy, trying to get us to notice them. Not Oliver. He's much to sneaky for that. He rolled over on his back, and stuck one paw through the wire of his crate. A truly pitiful and oscar-worthy move. He looks much like a beloved dog from childhood (Freckles, I still love ya!) and needless to say I was a goner.

As it turns out, soulful and pitiful, just isn't his thing. He's uber-friendly, totally stubbern, very vocal about his wants and needs, and has possibly the best wag of any dog I've ever seen. His whole body goes from the shoulders down. Now that he's gotten a little older, almost 9 (they grow up so fast), he's started to settle down a bit.



And this is our girl, Greta. Or Greta Mae Gumpus, as she is sometimes known. Or Mae Mae. The nicknames have gotten outa control for this dog. Pie, Pie Pie, Lumpus, Grumpus, Sugar Lump...please stop us, we obviously can't help ourselves. About a year after we brought Ollie home, we decided he needed a friend. So back we went to the same rescue. We explained that we wanted a dog that might be a calming influence (as if anything or anyone could be) for Ollie. Perhaps a slightly smaller, slightly older (he was about 3 then) , slightly better behaved model. Instead, we fell in love with her. Bigger than Ollie, and only about a year old, Greta came home. She crawled right into my lap, and hasn't moved much since. She is just the sweetest dog and yet, she doesn't hesitate to kick Ollie's ass when he needs it. She turned out to be exactly right for us.



These two miscreants are Beauty (the lab) and Bitsy (the sheltie/whatever). Mom and Dad adopted them a few years ago. For years, before their last dog (Homer, we miss you) died, Mom insisted there would be no more dogs for her. She loved them, but it was just too much work for her. Within 3 months of Homer's death, she was missing the companionship and starting to think about another dog. These two came as a set (they've been together all of their lives) and Mom, softie that she is, couldn't bear to separate them. After seeing them together, I don't know how they would have survived without each other. She did the right thing. Beauty charms everyone, loves everyone, and is possibly just the happiest, most content dog on the planet. Bitsy, on the other hand, is psycho, in the most adorable way possible. She spent the first 3 years at my parents house trying her best to keep dad from so much as looking at her. He of course, fell right into the trap. He spent day after day trying to win her over. Watching them flirt with each other was hilarious.

See, I told you there would be happy!