Hello November

It is my genuine opinion that you must own a dog before you can understand the love that is shared with a dog.

It was a sunny May afternoon when we took a drive way across town to go look at a litter of puppies. It was my brother’s idea – he wanted to buy one for us for my birthday. Daddy-J and I had been married for just 6 months and we both had settled on the idea of getting a dog. We talked about different breeds but a Boxer was what we wanted. We searched online, in the months prior, to find that special one. Daddy-J was partial to the brindle color. I liked those but honestly, the color didn’t matter to me. While we were scoping out our options, we found that the brindled Boxer was just a little (to the tune of $600) outside of our price range.

I still don’t understand why a dog with different colors is more expensive – but apparently they are few and far between.

There was a Boxer breeder close to us and my brother continued to keep in touch with him to find out when the next litter would be ready. Our puppy was born on March 27 and would be ready for purchase in May. Daddy-J and I both knew that we wanted a boy. As we took the drive in my brother’s truck, my excitement grew more. We arrived and after telling the man that I wanted a boy, he brought out the runt of the litter – the last boy to be chosen. The man placed the puppy on the ground a good distance from us and who we know now to be Bocephus, ran over to us, smelled our fingers and wanted to play. I immediately told my brother that I wanted him. I brought some towels with us to wrap him up in for the ride home and I held him close. We exchanged lots of Eskimo kisses and sweet puppy kisses.

Through our research, we found putting a ticking clock in a puppy’s bed or crate helps settle them through the transition period. The rhythmic pattern of the ticking mimics their mother’s heartbeat. This worked wonders for Bocephus and he only whined a bit in the first couple of nights.

Since we lived just down the path from Daddy-J’s parents, and his mother didn’t work, training Bocephus to potty outside wasn’t tough on us. He would stay on her screened in back porch during the day while we were at work and she would take him out to potty at least every 30 minutes to an hour. At least until he got in the habit of knowing where to go. Night time was a little harder as we had to get up from sleep at the first whimper to let him out. Of course he had a couple of accidents, but overall he was very easy to train.

Through the years, we have watched our “baby” grow into a wonderful dog. Yes, he was a normal puppy and chewed lots of things and he did get into a fight with a couple of older dogs across the path that led to surgery and three rows of stitches in his right hind leg but he has been the best dog we could have asked for.

He loves ice, dum-dum suckers, and enjoys going for walks and rides. He will not eat lettuce and is scared to death of walking across any type of chord on the floor. He also has a fear of things falling on him and hates a thunderstorm but he absolutely adores his family and loves to greet everyone with kisses when you come into our home.

He has been with us through the beginnings of our marriage, enjoyed family times at the lake, moved with us into two new houses, and learned to love his little brother J-Man – the moment we brought him home in January of 2009. He has celebrated and lived through all the in betweens with us as well.

One can really understand unconditional love once they own and love a pet like we have Bocephus. He is always happy to see us and genuinely wants to be with us. He licks our tears when we are sad and plays harder when we laugh.

I am so thankful to have this special dog in our lives.

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This is the start of a month full of thanks. Take time this month to reflect on all of your blessings and everything that has been given to you in your life. I am sure you will be blessed by your reflections. Challenge yourself to find new ways of exploring the good in everything you go through, even the bad stuff. Happy November!