How much is that Doggie in the Window?

Dear Posterity,

I love dogs, always have, always will. Perhaps it stems back to my early childhood when my BB's dog would sit by me wherever I was and make sure I was protected. We have pictures of that dog laying next to me in my johnny jump up. He would sit there and watch over me. I probably never had a better baby sitter than that dog.

My love of dogs could stem from my mom's love of animals. She never met an animal she could say no to and never met an animal she didn't try to save. I picked up on her passion as a young age. Once we went to the supermarket to try to give our kittens away and some guy asked me if I would give his away too. I thought that would be fine so I said yes. Needless to say we went home with more kittens then we started with. As far as I remember we always had animals. In fact at one point we had goats, dogs, cats, fish, birds and hamsters all at the same time but that's another blog for another day. One of our most beloved dogs was named Trixi.

Perhaps my mother was bonded to Trixi because they were very similar. They were both born to breed. My mom had 9 children and Trixi had 2 litters of 9 puppies. This dog knew how to do one thing right and that was to have lot's of puppies in one shot. Out of her 2nd liter came my first dog. The first dog that was officially mine I named Big Boy. Big Boy was my puppy and I loved him dearly. I must have been 8 or 9 years old when Big Boy was born and we were inseparable. Mom wanted to sell all the other puppies so we advertised that we had puppies for sale. One couple came and looked at the 9 puppies and they wanted Big Boy. Mom told them he was mine and they would have to deal with me. I think they offered me $20 for him, which to me was a fortune. Hell, that was fortune to my family at that time but I turned it down because I loved that dog.

A few months later my mom decided that we were moving out of the state and I would not be able take Big Boy. I ended up giving him to the same couple who wanted to buy him. On a side note, I tried to get the money they offered but to no avail. It broke my heart to give that dog away but we were moving so I had to do it. We ended up not moving and I never forgave my mom for making me give up my dog.

Fifteen years later my mom sent my grandmother 3 puppies to try to get rid of. My wife who was not a dog person said that we could look at them. As soon as we went to the house this little black dog with a white underbelly came right to me. He looked just like my Big Boy that I had to give away as a boy. It was love at first sight for both he and I. He knew instantly that I was supposed to be his person and I knew instantly that he was supposed to be my dog. The big test came when I had to take him to Amanda. My non dog loving wife fell in love instantly and didn't put up a fight. After all you can't fight destiny. I quickly reverted back to my childhood and named him...Big Boy.

The only problem was we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets so he had to stay with my grandmother while we looked for another place to live. It turns out that we bought our first home because of a dog. We were excited to bring him home and he's been with us for almost 4 years. We have also inherited another dog from my grandmother, Lady Beth. I wanted to get rid of her but my non dog loving wife couldn't do it. She is Lady Beth's person and Lady Beth is her dog.

Now we have 2 boys, 2 dogs and 2 fish. The boys love their dogs and the dogs love their boys. The play and wrestle and take care of each other. Tyler has inherited his grandmother's love of animals. Those sad animal abuse commercials will come on and he will get sad and say "sad doggie". Those commercials eat at Amanda and I also and makes us want to go and save all the dogs in the world. Some day we hope to buy a new house on some land and be able to save some of those dogs that need a loving home. Our dog's hold a special place in our hearts and in our home.

You can't describe it unless you own a dog but know that for us dog lovers when we hear the song "how much is that doggie in the window..." we know that the answer is PRICELESS...