I have more than once uttered the words, "I will never have a dog in my house!!" I was pretty serious when I said that. I thought all dogs belonged outside, on a farm. A cold rainy day in May of 2010 changed that. I decided in a very weak moment to tell Christian about a yellow lab that was available. I called him and said, "if you want a dog, this is your one and only chance." He jumped at the chance and that night we brought home the sweetest, most loving 7 week old puppy. Funny enough, he became MY dog. He went to work with me every single day. My jeans have not been clean since and neither has my car. Herky doesn't ride in the back. He rides in the front seat with me. Occasionally he tries to make his way onto my side. It is not conducive for driving, however, I have trained him well and thankfully he knows the meaning of "sit your butt down." :-)
In February of the following year Herky and his two brothers were hit by a train. They all survived, but it was scary. I will never forget when he was laying on the floor at the vet office. (they didnt have beds for all the dogs). Christian came from work to see him before we left for the night. As we walked away we said, "bye puppy." He lifted his head just a little and let out a whimper. It was painful. We wanted him home with us that night, but he had to stay.
As we struggled to have a family, Herky got me through some pretty emotional days. He laid on the floor and cried with me many times. He licked my face to show me he loved me. He laid in bed with me on mornings that I didn't really want to get up. He went on long walks with me. He even laid on TOP of me sometimes :-)
When we finally got the good news that we were going to have twin boys I worried that Herky would have a hard time with it. I had heard some dogs can sense a pregnancy and change their behavior, often times for the worse. Herky did change his behavior, but only for the better. He became extremely protective of me. He doesn't like loud noises anyways, (Thinking it might have something to do with a loud train whistle he probably once heard.) so he would bark at any noise and come to check on me. He really liked to bark at the big brown truck and still does. :-) When I was really sick in the beginning I would still try to take him for walks. He would not leave my side. I sometimes had to stop and sit down. He would run to me and make sure I was ok and rub his face up next to me. His favorite thing to do was try to climb up on my lap or on my desk at work.
Now, he has two little brothers and is even more protective. He loves to give them kisses. When they make a noise, he checks on them. He still loves to sleep in bed with us all and always lets us know when someone is at the door. He will not let us forget that he was our first baby.
I dont have a song to end on for this post. But I will say, I promise my next post will be about my precious baby boys! :-)
