I’m way behind on a bunch of stuff...
I've been working on only 100% necessary things this week, and will probably continue to do so for the rest of the week while I let my BABY BOY SETTLE IN to our routine. 💗😭😭😭.
So, here's a little back story in the meantime on this new old dog of mine.
Meet Bogie.
He is the sweetest old soul and the goodest boy. I brought Bogie home in the spring of 2010, after seeing a client's (cuuuuuute) yellow lab puppy (Fraiser, I think?) in the salon and asking where they got him. I convinced my (then) husband that we needed a companion for June, and we went to scoop him up in Poulsbo. He was the last pup left in his litter, and the mom's owners were glad to see him go to a home with another dog. He was just so attached to his mamma.
When we picked him up, he was running around like a little maniac wrestling and bothering his mother, covered in dirt from being rolled multiple times by tired, ready-to-be-done-with-his-12-week-old-ass, mamma. We tossed that pup in the back of the truck and brought him home to meet his new big sis. He slept the whole way. We soon learned that we had brought home the laziest dog alive. He was a perfect balance to June, who was quite the handful in her youth (I know... No one believes me because she's such a perfect angel now, but I'm telling you, Bogie was my easy dog back then). Bogie was (and is) a MAMMA'S BOY. He was always near me, sometimes underfoot, and sometimes body checking his poor sister right out of the way when she was trying to get snuggles. It changed her personality, she mellowed out, but eventually she didn't try so much for snuggles anymore 💔.
This next part is where the tears start falling 😢.
I had to leave them. I needed to make a change in my life, and when I moved out of my home, I began a 3 year (so far) journey of trying to find another one.
For the first year, I had no idea where I'd land. I went from staying in an Airbnb to living with a roommate, to a third-floor apartment. During that year, my poor pups were shuffled and I can only imagine how confused they were. My in-laws graciously cared for them both, until June started acting out in their care. She loves them, so it breaks my heart to think about how my clever, empathic little girl must have been feeling during that time. They did their best for her, but she needed to be with me and they told me so. I am so grateful, I really needed her too.
It was best for Bogie that he stayed with them at the farm 💔. My apartment was on the third floor and Bogie has bad hips. I knew if I brought him there, the pain of those stairs would kill him much before that old soul's time. So, in the spring of 2018, I picked up June and I left Bogie behind. It was sooooooo hard but also so good. They took such amazing care of my boy. They got the weight off of him, got him on medicine for his arthritis, kept him well fed and vaccinated, loved on him as if he was their own. He was theirs. I never thought I'd see him again. I had to make the choice to give him up and I thought he'd live the rest of his days without me. My heart ached every time I'd think of him, which was often.
The silver lining of this story is that during these almost 2 years that I've had with June, we've bonded like I never thought possible. She's a new dog. She's happy, confident, loving, and so mellow (she's still sassy, though😏)... If you know her, you know how special she is.
I'm finally in a home with space for my babies and on Saturday I brought my boy home. June is happy and all smiles to see her brother again. I was a bit nervous about how my special little diva would respond to sharing her space (and her momma) with him again, so to see her smiling makes me feel like all is ok in the world right now. Even though I'm not sure how long I'll be here in this house, I know that I will do whatever it takes to make sure that if/when we have to leave here, it will be together.
My heart feels whole again, so please excuse me while I go quiet for a few more days to make my boy feel at home. I'll be soaking in the cuteness in a pile of Labrador love and rainbows.
— ✌🏻❤️🐶