Little man.
The days just keep on rolling by until you will be here. Today your mom and I worked on some bookkeeping for the Utah State Fair Store and we tested out the inventory tool I built with some numbers to make sure that it all made sense once we have real numbers to go in. We also went swimming for the first time in a long time and it was the first time I got my beard under water, it is a weird sensation. It made my chin tingly it was definitely new. You will know me with a beard at first, but it took me a long time to be able to grow one so many things are new about it right now.
Today I want to talk to you about Family. not the ones you are related to or the ones that you claim as family, but the furry kind of family. (Though some of the others are furry too!)
When I was growing up, we always had cats. Maggie loved them so we sometimes broke the rules in our apartments to have cats around when we were growing up. As of now I have personally owned a few rodents, lots of Fish, a Turtle, and 3 or 4 dogs depending on how you count it. Of them all I loved the Dogs the most. (Though the Turtle was a conversation starter.)
We did not really have dogs at home when I was growing up but I always wanted one. The Christmas after I turned 10 we got my first dog. Her name was Rebecca and she was a Chesapeake bay retriever/ golden retriever mix. We got her when she was a puppy and I loved her quite a bit. The problem was I wanted a dog, but was not really ready for all of the responsibility it took to train her and care for her. This was before your cousin Emily was born and she kept jumping up and was not as well behaved as she needed to be but I did not know how to train her or help her get better. She was not well house trained, and when we left her in the kitchen during the day, she broke several wooden spoons that we had locked the swinging door to the kitchen with. I would go to take her for walks and one night I put her leash on her before I tied my shoes and she chewed through it before I had them tied and was ready. She got out of the yard and we had to find her several times, on more than one occasion bribing her with bread, which she loved. We finally had to give her away, and one day when I came home from school she was gone. I remember today how bad I felt that I never got to really say good bye. I loved her, but despite thinking I was ready I wasn't.
For a long time, I had Hamsters and did alright with them. The thing about hamsters is that you have to make sure their bedding is clean all the time or it all begins to smell. My first one was always chewing his way out of cages so I finally got him a glass one so he could not chew his way out.
I have had fish on and off, both at my Dads and eventually at my own place when I was in my 20's.
When I was living with your Aunt Mary in my 20's I decided it was time to get a dog again. Jodie Bear was a Border Collie mix, and was always up for an adventure. She and I went for hikes and I loved her. I never got her trained well and we did have problems of house training, but she was a great friend when things in my life did seem so good and she always wanted to play especially with the water when we turned on the hose. Mary had 2 different beagles during this time and while Jodie could run and hike for miles those 2 did not.
When I moved into my apartment I brought Jodie with me but it was hard on her. I did not have a kennel so when I was not home she was locked up in the bathroom. That was fine when all I was doing was working, but when I started dating and I would be out for longer it was much harder on her. One day I came home to a bathroom floor that she had ripped up because she was bored. I did all I could to keep her, for a time she lived with my Dad, but eventually it became too much and I had to get rid of her. I did it because I did not have the time to spend with her, I did not know how to take care of her, and ultimately, she deserved better. The day I had to give her away was one of the hardest for me, but I knew it what was best for her.
A few years later Aunt Mary wanted me to go to the pet store with her to adopt a puppy for her. I was not sure about it, but I went just the same. I will never forget the day we picked up Sam. He was a picture perfect little golden retriever puppy and Mary was in love with him. Everyone else who saw him loved him too, he was such a cute puppy. When she decided to move to Texas a month or so later, I decided that he needed to come live with me and he has ever since. This time, I did it right. We got a Kennel for him, I made sure he had toys to play with so he was not tearing apart things he shouldn't, this time things were different. I had problems at first house training him, but eventually the accidents got less and less as I learned his signs and figured out what he was trying to tell me and what ways we could make sure he got what he needed. When he was small he couldn't get up on the bed, so I got him a little foot stool to climb up with me. Sam has been my constant companion through thick and thin, good times and bad, since the day I brought him to live with me. I am not sure you will remember him but he is a great dog and I love him very much, he is sweet and wants nothing more than to be in my good graces and if there was ever a dog who would follow me to hell and back he would do so just to be by my side. The day we moved into the house was probably one of his favorite days as he loves to run and play outside. A few months ago we moved the furniture around in the living room and he has decided that if he is not with us, he favorite place to be is looking out the front window and sometimes barking at the people on the street.
When I met your mom Sketti was not in the picture yet. She picked him up a couple months after we met at her Family Reunion. He is a little turkey, but we love him. He loves me but he is definitely your moms dog. He is older and sometimes stubborn but we love him, and from time to time, when we can get him to play he is one of the silliest, perhaps most entitled dogs I know. He always tries to sleep at the top of the bed on our pillows and if not is stubborn about sleeping in between your mom and I. I was not always sure about him, but he loves me and I love this little dude.
Pets are a part of your family, and I could go on and on about the dogs who I have loved and were as near to me as much of my family. Your Grandma Judy just lost a dog that was one of the sweetest dogs I have known and I miss her terribly when I go to her house. They are family, and you have to treat them like that. It does not mean that you do not have to discipline them sometimes, but you have to be ready to take care of them. Take them on walks, play with them, teach them. Our dogs are our family, and long before I was your dad, I was Sam's dad. It is not always easy, but if you are going to adopt a dog you have to be ready to take care of them and do what they need you to do so they can have the full life they deserve. If you are not willing to do that, you are not ready to be a pet Dad. It took me a long time to get here, but when I knew Sam was different was when I would go to work, and despite wanting to go out or something after, I knew that I had to take care of him first, then do what it was that I wanted to do. I had to be willing to give up what I wanted for what he needed, I had to be ready to take time to teach him and to learn how he communicated so I could make sure he did get outside when he needed. Even now, years later, I do not always catch all the signs, but we have gotten better at communicating. A dog will be your constant friend and companion, but you have to be willing to put your wants aside sometimes so that they have what they need. It took me a long time to be a good doggy daddy but I am finally here. I only hope that someday you can have the same experience.
