Any excuse I can find to talk about my big pup, I'll take it!

While the pups in the above photo are stunning, they are not mine. However, aren't they so cute? Did you have a dog as a child? Do you remember the day your pet was brought home?

My first memory of our family dog, Patches, involved my dad carrying her on a pillow as he walked through our front door. I was probably around 8 years old. I remember how beautifully perfect she was. She was a tiny beagle pup with floppy ears and the sweetest face. I bonded with that pup as we grew up together. My parents did not want her to be an "indoor dog" so she had a dog house and would come into our basement on especially cold or bad weather nights. My memories surrounding Patches are a mixture of happiness, love and sadness. I longed for her to be an inside dog that could snuggle with me in my bed. I would sit with her outside and tell her everything that my little heart was thinking. 

I realized at a young age just how impactful dogs are when you're raising children. I loved her endlessly! When I got married, we did not waste much time and adopted little Molly, a toy fox terrier. One year later we adopted Ellie, a toy rat terrier. These were my two original baby girls and we loved on them for the next 16 years. Unfortunately, they both passed away in 2020 and 2021 but not before we adopted Fiona the Doberman!

Knowing our time with Molly and Ellie was limited, we brought 8 week old Fiona into our family and it was the absolute best decision! We knew that having her to love and train would help us with the loss of our two senior girls and it truly did. Some recommended not doing so but we knew it was the right decision for us. 

We grieved the loss of Molly and Ellie heavily but we had a new puppy to train and it helped to ease our heartache just a bit. Fiona has, in many ways, become an emotional support dog for our family. She helps us to feel safe in our home while providing us with a deep love and connection that we never knew would happen again. 

We are excited to celebrate National Puppy Day because we sure do love our pup. Do you remember your first family dog? Those memories are treasured for many of us. I think I'll always have a dog and one this is for certain: she will always be allowed in my bed!

Blessings,