Dog Days of Summer

This July marks Goober being with us for almost year and a half. He has grown, developed and shaped our lives in oh so many ways:

1. Dylan and I's world revolves around this little guy. Morning, noon and evening we are both constantly making sure he is taken care of before we do anything. Plans revolve around Goobz schedule. We are that couple who either leave early or come late because we had to walk Goobz or get him to do his "business."

2. He is spoiled. He knows it; we know it and none of us care. :)

3. Dylan aka "Dad" is good for taking naps and rough housing. Rough housing involves Goober biting and chasing Dylan's fingers/hand around for hours. After a while it becomes a slap and bite game and yes, BOTH of them participate in these actions.  

4. Goober refuses to do anything else unless I do it with/for him. He literally will not walk with Dylan unless I come too. (sits down on the floor and refuses to budge) He sleeps with me, follows me around and even gets upset when I shut a door on him. 

5. His toys take up half of our house because he sees fit to place them everywhere Mommy and Daddy have their stuff. (Loves loves to bury his rawhide bones underneath Dylan's pillow at night..makes for an uncomfortable "hello" when Dylan gets into bed) His favorite game right now though is to run all the way up the stairs and drop a squishy ball down.  Mommy picks it up and throws it back up the stairs for him to chase. This happens over and over and over again. Now, its much better than the "chase the dog around the house" game, but it still wears you out. He barks too, when you do not get the toy fast enough. 

6. He loves to be outside in our front yard because we have all of this tall, soft grass!! We think he looks like Simba as he meanders through the grass. Everything outside amuses him, but his favorites are the bugs. Preferably live ones. :) The crickets he chases and pounces on as they jump away from him. Beetles, june bugs, bugs w/ wings he knocks around until their wings are gone and then he chases them on the ground. Tries to catch butterflies and moths in the air...yet to be successful in this adventure. The Cicada bugs are the best though! They leave their shells attached to rocks, blades of grass etc. and they confuse him so bad. He cannot tell if the shells are living or dead- takes him forever to get the courage up to touch it and then they break so he gets all upset. 

7. He sleeps in the most uncomfortable positions!! And he dreams! It is hilarious! His legs look like they are running and he grunts, whimpers, whooshes air out of his nose etc. 

8. Total "Curious George". Every nook, cranny, space he can wiggle his body into he will. He also thinks he needs to be doing whatever Mommy and Daddy are doing, or at least looking at the same thing. 

9. He talks. Really and truly! Walk in the door after being gone a while, ask Goobz how his day was and he will start moaning, groaning, whinning, whimpering etc. The more you ask, the more pitiful the noises become. He does this with both Dylan and I and we think it is hilarious. :)

10. He is finally healthy!! After our awful GI problems in April, we switched his food, treats and bones and have not had any more problems. Went for his yearly check up and everything was how it should be. And yes, he still weighs a whopping 10 pounds. 

11. Goobz is way smarter than he looks. He knows the sounds of all kinds of words; some words we wish he did not know. :) Now, whether he chooses to obey and listen to all of these words is up to him and some days, he has very selective hearing. :) Typical male... *wink wink*

12. If you let him, he could become the Energizer Bunny. Sometimes I will walk him at least 3 miles and none of it will phase him. I'm tired and want to go home while he wants to go another round. (Our neighborhood is all hills btw)

13. He is still not super friendly, but is getting better. Goobz does pretty well with females, but still very skittish around males. We cannot tell if this is something that lingers from his days before we rescued him or if it is because I coddle him too much or a combination of both. 

14. We spend more on preparations for Goobz when we go out of town than on ourselves. I also call and check up on him while we are gone too. It's bad... I know! 

15. There are many, many more things but at the end of the day, Goobz makes Dylan and I laugh so much. He causes us to smile all the time, and most importantly, he continually teaches Dylan and I about love and forgiveness. No matter the tone of your voice, no matter how long you are gone during the day, no matter if you forget to give him a walk or treats, he loves you. This little guy has love for both of us that just spills over 24/7; so in turn, we take his love, give it back to him and remember to show it as much as possible to each other.