The story of coming to live with my Mommy and Daddy

So my Mommy is having a really rough day today.  So is my Daddy.  They have told me that it's likely that they will keel over from the stress of my health before I actually do.  I think that's a really bad idea, because that would leave me as the big brother to my sister and brother...and that could get interesting.  So instead we are going to focus on some happy times from when I was just a little guy.  Like when I came to live with my Mommy and Daddy.  That was nine years ago, almost to the day.

My Mommy and Daddy lived in California at the time.  They had just gotten married in January of 2002 and bought a brand new house just a few months after their wedding.  Mommy and Daddy tell me that they quickly realized they were ready for a doggie.  They knew they wanted a big dog.  They had a few casual conversations about getting a dog, but they didn't want to rush.  So a few days later, when their friends told them about someone who had a yellow Labrador retriever puppy, 3 months old, who needed a new home, my Mommy and Daddy thought long and hard about adopting the puppy (who, coincidentally, was ME!).  My Daddy is the thinker, the non-impulsive parent.  He likes to come to conclusions after careful thought and research.  He was more than a little hesitant to bring home a puppy on about a day's notice.  My Mommy, she's the opposite of my Daddy.  She thinks....but very quickly.  She is impulsive.  She heard about me and knew it was the right thing to do, to bring me home.  Being that I have one impulsive, and one contemplative parent, they compromised.   I mean they spent at least 30 minutes discussing the idea of me before Mommy convinced Daddy that I should come live with them.

So the next day Mommy and Daddy got in the car and drove to pick me up from the people that were getting rid of me.  Why, you might ask, would anyone possibly want to get rid of someone as sweet and loveable as me?  I know, I wonder that same thing myself.  Apparently this couple that originally adopted me, when I was 8 weeks old, both found themselves in promotions at their jobs.  They would travel lots, and not be able to be around me.  At least that's what they told my Mommy and Daddy.  So after just four short weeks with my previous family, I found my lifelong Mommy and Daddy.  In fact, the previous family GAVE me to my Mommy and Daddy, even though they paid $600 for me just four weeks earlier.  The also gave my Mommy and Daddy my bed, my food canister, a month's worth of expensive dog food and some toys.  Then they practically pushed us out the door.  That was July 24, 2002.  That means that as of right now, I've lived with my Mommy and Daddy for exactly 9 years and 2 days.

After my Mommy and Daddy brought me home it took them maybe two days to realize that perhaps there was more to the previous family's story than just promotions at work that kept them from being able to keep me.  I was, let's just say, energetic as a 3 month old Labrador.  That being said, my Mommy and Daddy were, let's just say, unprepared to bring home a 3 month old Labrador on one day's notice.  So our first few days together were interesting.

The first morning in my new house my Mommy and Daddy had to go to work.  They weren't really sure what to do with me, because I was fairly lively.  They didn't have a crate yet.  So they put me in the kitchen, and blocked the way with a chest.  My Mommy's cousin was living with us at the time.  He worked a late night shift, and usually woke up mid-day.  So imagine my Mommy and Daddy's surprise when Mommy's cousin called and told them that when he woke up, he found me not in the kitchen, where I had been when they left, but sleeping peacefully on the couch in the living room...curled up with my Mommy's childhood stuffed animal, an adorable teddy bear named Pilsbury.  I retrieved Pilsbury from Mommy and Daddy's bedroom.  If you want to know the truth of what happened, I was in the kitchen and I heard this noise.  It kept calling out for help.  Not sure who it was calling, I wasn't sure what to do, but I felt an investigation was in order.  So I jumped over the counter and ran upstairs.  That's when I found Pilsbury, and he was crying out to me with his silent posture to help him!  So I grabbed him and took him downstairs and cuddled him til he was quiet.  The real wonder of the story is that I didn't actually do anything to Pilsbury.  I just snuggled up with him and loved him.  He smelled just like my Mommy, so I figured he was important.  He's one of the only stuffed animals in the house that survived life with me.  Just ask my brother and sister.  When they came along and the stuffed animals started multiplying exponentially, I did my best to keep the stuffed animal population at bay in the household.  But getting a sister and brother - now that's a whole other story.

I was quite a mischevious young puppy.  One of our first nights together, we went for a ride(!!!!).  I love rides.  You just say the magic words "Ollie you wanna go for a ride?" and I jump up and run to the door.  The same works for things like "Ollie you wanna go for a walk?", "Ollie you wanna go for a run?", "Ollie you wanna go to the park?" and "Ollie you want to go play in traffic?"  Okay, kidding about the last one, but I'm pretty sure my Mommy and Daddy thought about that from time to time when I was destructo-dog.  Where was I?  Remember, I'm a dog, I lose my train of thought pretty fast.  Did someone say train?  Oh right, mischevious puppy.  We went for a ride(!!!!).  We went to visit my Mommy and Daddy's very good friends, who became ultimately became my God Dog-Mama and God Dog-Father.  I think Mommy and Daddy assigned them as my God Dog-Parents because a) they were our close friends and b) My God Dog-Father is a police officer and if anyone has an Alpha aura about him, it's my God Dog-Father (I love you!!!) and c) Mommy and Daddy figured I needed all the help I could get- from them, from God, or from God Dog Parents.  Anyway, there was not a formal baptism.  Perhaps some of the choice words my Mommy and Daddy uttered towards me from time to time could count as official.  Whatever.  We we went for a ride(!!!!) to meet my God Dog-Parents who were, at the time, not yet my God Dog-Parents.  We walked into their house and I went nuts.  No big surprise, right?  I'm a yellow lab puppy.  I'm three months old, with a bunch of people I barely know, and now I'm in a house with all kinds of new smells.  It was fabulous.  Eventually I tired out.  I'm not positive what finally settled me down into a nice snooze at my God Dog-Parents house, but I think it had something to do with the big poop I took right in the corner of their living room.  Did I mention their house was brand new?  All I can say is the house needed some character.  And I did my part.  To this day, my God Dog-Parents love me, despite my rocky start.  And I love them too.  They live far away now, but we remain very special to each other.  I love them in spite of the fact that they got rid of the character-building gift I deposited in their living room.  And they love me in spite of the fact that that was my idea of a house-warming gift.

The story of my puppy-antics have barely gotten started.  But for tonight I'm feeling tired and I've had a really long day.  My Mommy keeps crying as she writes for me, so I probably need to give her some loving.  My sister and brother just went to bed, which leaves me at my favorite time of day....just ME with my Mommy and Daddy.

Love,
Ollie the Wonder Puppy.