Woman's Best Friends

This past February, our best friend of almost 15 years died. His name was Max, and he was a Beagle/Rottweiler mix. We had been looking for a Beagle when we came upon a pet shop that had him. The mix sounded so unusual we had to at least go see him. He was the cutest little puppy with some very big feet. We thought he'd be a huge guy, hence the name Max. Well, Max never did grow very big. He had a Rottweiler's personality - loyal, sweet, great with kids - in the body of a mutant Beagle - barrel-chested, short legs, and where'd he get those ears? Max joined our family when we found out that having children was physically impossible. He filled an enormous hole in my heart, often licking tears from my face when no one was looking. His favorite word was "Go", and so he was a very well-travelled dog. He rode across the country twice, and went to places like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Death Valley.

About a year and a half before he died, we began to realize that he wouldn't be around forever, so we began sizing up replacements. I had always wanted a Golden Retriever, and so Max got a new baby sister, Maisy. She's a honey of a dog, with definite "Max-ability". Max taught her the fine art of knowing your territory, and thanks to him, she never runs off - she knows her yard, even though we have no fences. She learned that obedience is well-rewarded, and that even though there's lots of people in the world, her people are the best. While they were never really playmates because of their age difference, they were nice companions. So when he died, poor Maisy was really lonely. She's been a very needy dog anyway, preferring any kind of touch from us to any other thing under the sun. But she got a little distructive - mostly if someone forgot to latch the trash cabinet. So off we went again, this time searching the pounds to see who we could rescue. We found Bailey (AKA Isabella, Bella, Sasha, and Jeff's favorite - "DOG") at a shelter. We know next to nothing about her, but at age 2 mos, she's completely house-broken and sleeps all night (soundlessly!!) in her crate. Maisy is beside herself to have this bundle of energy for a playmate, and Lizzie loves having Bailey's crate in her room so she has a roommate.

When most people think of our family, they see a family of 3, but really there are five of us: Jeff, Ann, Lizzie, Maisy and Bailey. The Dunlaps. A family.

I remember a commercial jingle for a pet store from a few years back. It went something like: "You gotta have a dog my friend, a D-O-G, oh gee you gotta have a dog".

Whoever said there's no truth in advertizing?!