All things bright and beautiful

Oh the love of a dog.  There are those who love lizards.  And those who are "cat people."  Some people feel most alive when they are around horses (sidenote: watch the documentary "Buck" if you get the chance--inspiring and well-done).  Back to my point, I am a dog person.  I like cats.  I talk to any animal I see practically thinking I can become its friend.  But at the heart of it all, I love my dog.  And other dogs.  Little furry creatures that wag their tails.  Love them.

In California, C and I talked about getting another dog to keep Arthur company and to love on.  We even went to a shelter there.  Unfortunately, the dog we had our hearts set on was not a good match for Art.  I blame part of this on the environment in which the dogs met (picture: metal fencing, dirt, bad smells).  It felt like a prison yard, and both dogs acted like it was in fact a prison yard.  So we put a new doggie out of our minds for a bit when that didn't work out.

When we moved to Bend, we started talking about it again.  A little time had passed, we felt situated in our new house and area, and it seemed like the right time.  We visited the Humane Society one Friday evening and immediately put our names down for a sweet girl we met there.  That didn't work out either.  Someone else had their name down and had 24 hours to decide...and they decided she would complete their family.  Great news for them, slightly sad news for us.

But I know this all happened because we were meant to have a certain animal come into our lives.  In February, we started looking for a boxer online.  Arthur has been amazing, and I know the breed pretty well from hanging with my brindle buddy for the last 8 years.  There was a rescue...but it was 5 hours north in WA.  I of course wanted about 10 of their boxers when I started looking at the pictures, but we settled on a younger guy that the head of the rescue thought would work well for us.  At the time, his name was Harley...and these are a couple of pictures we saw of him on their site.





We made sure that we would not be making a 5 hour drive one-way to find out he wasn't a good match with Arthur (and they assured us he was mellow and sweet).  So we did it!  We drove the 5 hours to Ellensburg, WA and met our new buddy.  He was and is adorable.  The drive home I sat in the back with both dogs and cuddled with my new furry friend.

I knew I would like having two dogs, but really I had no idea how much I would like it.  We changed his name because it just didn't seem to fit him and because he was only 10 months old we knew with a little repetition he'd be just fine adjusting.  To be honest, he didn't really respond to his given name anyway.  Ha.  It felt a bit like naming a baby.  I have a thing for old man names when it comes to dogs. Obviously with Arthur, his name is just perfect for his personality.  We must have listed off 30 old man names and couldn't really agree on anything that fit our new guy until the morning after we got him.  We were on our first family walk and Cooper said, "What about Moses?"  PERFECT!  It fits him so well, he reminds me of a mellow old dude and it goes well with Arthur.

I am so happy that we rescued a boxer and have grown so attached to this guy in such a short time.  We got him February 22nd and yet it feels like he has always been with us.  Here are our fellows (who are great pals now...Art took a day or so to really love on Moses, but since then it's been no turning back).  I think his main issue was just jealousy since he'd been the only doggie we focused on for so long.  But I knew he would love him quickly and I was right!!  Life with two dogs is indeed bright and beautiful.


One of the only times Moses was naughty...he's really been a good boy for being less than a year when we got him.  This cracked us up though.  He was being told "no" and just rolled over to look cute. :)

 At the top of Pilot Butte after our hike with our buddies Joe and Jen who were in town from the bay area.  Gorgeous day, and the dogs did great!

 Arthur has a method for getting the tennis ball back from Moses.  He sits on him.  We have video of him doing this about 5 times within a minute.  It is hilarious to watch.  And it usually works.  Eventually Moses spits out the tennis ball. :)

We love our guys, and we love our life!  The rescue calls boxers "wiggle butts" and it is truly accurate. Their little faces are so expressive and because they lack more than a nubbin' of a tail their whole back half wiggles when they see us.  Unconditional love wrapped up in jowels,  nubbins and faces I just can't resist.  :)