They Call It Puppy Love

The song had it right, but my idea of puppy love has to do with my furry baby and the ones in the past. There’s nothing like snuggling up with our furry friends to make us smile.

There’s days when we can’t help but feel just flat out happy. We’d want to dance in the moonlight – okay, maybe not, but the idea sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Growing up we had a shepherd/collie named Skipper. He was totally my mom’s dog. Any time we were in the car I had to ride in the back seat because he rode shotgun and if I dared sit in the passenger seat I got ‘the look’ and immediately scrambled into the back seat. Skipper was a wonderful dog and even saved my life when I was three and a rattler ended up in my sandbox. He killed the snake and was bitten on the nose as a result. One vet said he couldn’t be saved, but that didn’t stop my dad. Another vet worked hard and Skipper came home to us. What else I remember is his running with the coyotes at night. They’d show up in our back yard and next thing he was off with them, coming home a day or so later. He was hit by a car when I was nine and we all missed him so much.

Then there was Prince, a gorgeous German shepherd who was lame in a back leg but always managed to stand on his hind legs for a lengthy time. No one wanted him because of that leg, but we did and he was a great watchdog and playmate.

Princess was our Malamute/wolf mix. I remember her looking quizzically at my middle school summer science project of 12 mice. She never tried to hurt them, just tried to figure them out. And if you wanted to date me, forget my dad, if Princess did like you, you knew it!

By then I was married and our first dog was Mac, a gorgeous shepherd/mix I adopted when we were based in Boston for a couple years. Mac went everywhere with me and loved riding in the car and visiting the Coast Guard base when my husband came back from ocean station. Everyone else had their kids on the dock when the ship came in. I had Mac.

Can you tell I’m a dog lover? We had cats, I have parrots and a tortoise, but it always seemed the big dogs captured my heart. But then we don’t choose a dog, they choose us.

Until Cocoa, a dark brown terri/poo who said “let’s go home.” He was the most laid back dog I’d ever known and I know if it hadn’t been for his brain tumor we would have had him for more than six years, but we did have him for an extra four years thanks to our fantastic vet.

And Bogie, who said the same thing when I thought of company for Cocoa. My Chi/Yorkie mix was my baby. We bonded that first day and I was so lucky to have him for 18 years. He hid his treats around the house and in the couch cushions, he had the pathetic look down pat if he wanted something and he was my love puppy. I always felt sad to know he’d cry the first two days I was away at a conference and hardly eat. And when I’d return home I’d get a “it’s about time you got back!” I also had to say “bye, Bogie, Mama will be back” because if I didn’t he’d cry and howl while I was gone.

Barney, my white mini-Schnauzer is a totally new experience for me. His behavior isn’t like any other dog and luckily, old friend and author, Elaine Raco Chase, has always had Schnauzers and is leading me through the goofball that’s the little guy that hopped up to me, wrapped his front paws around my leg with “I’m now yours”. He leaves his toys scattered all over the house and what can I say – he humps a mega spider every night after his dinner. Yes, at our house it’s dinner and a show. When I return from overnight trips he’s bouncing toward me with I call Tigger hops with “where ya been, huh? Where ya been?”

And this is why I call it puppy love. I love my furry beasts. They make me laugh, yes, make me cry, and offer up comfort when it’s needed.

What about you? Do you have critters that give you that puppy love?

Linda