Everything is better with a Chevy

24 Paws of Love Angels watching over Chevy

Sitting on the couch with my boy.  Still utterly amazed by him.  This canine by my side.  Even after five months of being here, Chevy still surprises me every day by how much love he has in him.  

Chevy and the 24 Paws of Love

When I lost the 24 Paws, I could not fathom a dog that could match them.  Yet, here we are with Chevy doing just that.  The 24 Paws are physically gone, but they are still here in spirit.  And they are in Chevy, but he is his own dog.  It is weird.  I'm constantly doing a mental double take. Chevy has smoothed all the rough edges of that loss and made me fall in love with dogs again.  

This boy is the most loveable dog we have ever had and that I have ever met.  Chevy loves to snuggle and is always open to attention and affection.  He loves everyone he meets and everyone he meets loves him, including his four doggie girlfriends.  He wants to do a meet-and-greet with all people and dogs he comes across.  Which is one of our challenges when out and about with him, not being pulled towards potential "new friends."  lol  He has such a hard time controlling himself, but we are working on it.

   

His training is coming along great!  We are working on a solid "stay" and "come."  10 to 15 minutes is all he needs for training until he's rolling on the grass or grabbing a stick to let me know he's done. lol

Chevy is just such a good dog overall.  I still find myself in disbelief at just how good of a dog he is.  We have been more than blessed with him.  ♥

If you would have told me...

If you told me that I would be looking at the shelter's website with Brut whispering in my ear to think outside the box and that maybe an older dog would be better with the cats, I wouldn't have believed it.  As I had already looked at the selection of dogs and closed my laptop once, thinking getting a dog was never going to happen.  

And if you'd told me that when Mark said ," Let's go tomorrow and get him," then overslept that morning that it was another sign that it wasn't meant to be.  In spite of the message I got from Brut and Silver early that morning when both of their solar lights on their graves were still dimly lit in the morning dawn, I wouldn't have believed it.  

If you would have told me that a week ago today I would have a 10 year old Lab/Hound mix dog that I picked off the Humane Society laying on the floor next to me, I would have told you, you're crazy!  Or if you'd told me that when we went to the shelter after seeing said picture of dog only to find out they were closed, a friend whom used to work at our vet's office was working there, saw us and came out to see us.  When we told her we wanted Chevy, her eyes lit up as she had known Chevy for a while and even though they were closed, we met Chevy, and she made the deal happen. 

And if I told you that Chevy was great with the cats and the cats are warming up to him, it is almost surreal to believe.  When we took Chevy home, he walked right up to the door, ready to go inside.  And if I told you that it feels like he has been here all along, I would tell you that Chevy filled this dog mom's heart in every way possible.  ♥ 

Love you Silver!

 Four years ago today, we lost our sweet Momma Dog Silver.  It still feels like it has been an eternity since she left us.  It doesn't feel like she died, but just faded away.  She was a spunky girl who had a gentle life force and a nurturing soul.  Silver was the counter balance to Brut's aggressive ways.  Her genes softened the rough edges in their kids.  I see Silver the most in Fiona and Zappa, probably because Silver rubbed off on them being part of their pack.  

Silver was our first puppy together who started this whole journey we are on with her kids;
who are now as old as she was when she died.  It doesn't seem possible.  

She was a good first-time mom.  She already had the mothering down by practicing on me.  lol  She really was a natural.  We were so blessed that she took good care of her puppies.

And when those  puppies grew up she took a backseat to her own needs and made sure they got the care they needed.  She was amazing that way.  I always felt so guilty that she was always last compared to Brut and the kids, not realizing, that is what a mother does.  

 

All those years I didn't understand.  I thought she just didn't fit in with the rest of them and she didn't.  She was a mother first and a dog second.  She'd been that way from almost the start of our relationship.  I thought I understood the true mother Silver was to me when she was here, now I'm finding a deeper root of what
her mothering has meant to me.  Silver was exactly the mother I needed and still do.  

So on this day, I honor my girl, who taught me the true meaning of what it means to be loved unconditionally and forever.

                                                   Love you Silver!

Thankful Tuesday

I couldn't wait for "Thankful Thursday" to write this as I am so full of gratitude for my life and the many loves in it.  I am so very blessed after my awful start in life.

I have love coming from every direction and any part of the house.  It is just completely awesome.

Mark with V-girl.  One of the pups from our litter.

My husband, Mark, bless his soul.  He has put with so many of my demons and held my hand and heart the whole way through. Mark is so understanding, caring and my best friend.  He loves like a dog, unconditionally.  He has changed my life and the dogs love his kid-filled soul.  Nothing is ever really right unless Daddy is home.  :)

The blessed Dynamic Duo

I am still after almost 9 years shocked and amazed that Chance and Blaze came back home. (Two puppies from our litter that were returned to us) I am utterly so grateful that they are a part of life and literally thank them every night for being returned to us.  They too are still so grateful after all these years to be home as well.  They are worth having 2 packs of dogs.  I don't care how crazy or wrong someone might think it is, I would do it again if it was the only way to keep them.

Zappa, Silver and Fiona resting by Brut's spot.  (circle)

And the Back Dog Trio, Silver, Fiona and Zappa...bless their giant hearts.  We have been through so many things with Brut when he was alive and then gone that there are many ways we missed out on so much bonding time and now we have all the time in the world.  They are seeking me out and coming to me just to be touched and loved.  It is so awesome.  We are bonding in ways that we couldn't before and it is so wonderful.

Memorial stone at our vets office on outside wall.

And Brut...the dog of my life.  Never will there ever be another and I am so grateful to have been part of his short but full life.  There was one thing I knew when he died, I had no regrets.  None.  Brut lived a very full life and taught me so many valuable lessons and this is one of them...being grateful.


I can't believe the way my life is changing and growing when for so many years I didn't want to live.  Life is truly a blessing with so much love to share it with.

Missing my boy

It is so hard to come here and blog.  I'm forcing myself because I need to write and writing is therapeutic for me.  I need to share my feelings or I isolate.  And who understands better about the loss of a dog than our dog loving readers.

Today marks 11 months since we buried Brut.  I wish I could say it has gotten easier, but there are days when the tears are so fresh, it is like losing him all over again.  The last two days the weather has finally broke (hopefully for good) and I was sitting outside on my little bench in the same place Brut laid every day for those last couple of months.  I said 'Good Morning' to God, then to Brut and I cried unexpectedly.

 There is still a huge void where Brut once was.  I do believe his spirit is alive and well and I talk to him all the time.  It's a new adventure for our relationship, except I miss being able to ruffle his fur and look deep into his eyes.  I miss laying next to him on the bed looking out the window where only he could calm that inner tremor in me.  

I miss Brut patrolling the yard and noticed that even after only a couple of months of him being gone, his paths have been growing over and now are almost gone.  Brut trodden those paths religiously keeping all evil out.  He was such a great protector of his family.

Zappa is feeling the hurt as well.  I make a poor subsitute for Brut as a squirrel chaser.  Those two would race around the sheds and try to flush out the chipmunks and squirrels and it took a lot for them to give up.  God, how I miss watching them two play together.

There have been more than a few times that depending the angle or my perspective or lighting when Zappa will look like Brut.  It only happens for a split second or two making my heart skip a beat.

And I can't believe I've lived almost a whole year without my Bruter Boy.  I never thought I could live without him in my life connected to my mind and soul.   Thank goodness for the unconditional love of a dog.  We will always together in spirit.

For all of you who have lost a dog a heartfelt hug goes out to you.

 

Why Do You Have Dogs?

A question I was wondering the other day.  What do you think draws us specifically to dogs?  There are many of us who have multi-animal households and may favor one species over the over, but I'm wondering what it is about dogs themselves, that you at some point decided you had to have one, or two or three...

While I'm sure most of us could come up with list a mile long about everything we love about dogs, from their physical attributes, their unconditional love, their loving friendship, their companionship, to their funny quirks.  But what do you think drew you into the world of canines?

For me it started very young and it was their unconditional love, being it was the only love I ever received in my life.  I latch on to that love with all I could to make through a childhood of abuse.  I am still overwhelmed to this day that my dogs (and many along the way) have loved me when no one else did.  I still find myself in a state of shock that they do love me.  Sometimes it is more than I can comprehend.

So tell me what do you think the key element is for you and your attraction to dogs?  What about dogs pulls you in their direction?

You can see Mark is drawn to the comfy pillow and lap warmer quality!

Tell me your story!

Have you ever seen a puppy born?

Have you ever seen a puppy born?  How about ten of them in a seven hour span?

I have.

And every moment was a miracle.

I thought I understood dogs, until I got Brut

And when I thought I understood Brut, we had puppies.

And when I thought I understood the puppies,

they grew and changed

transforming before my eyes.  

They taught me what I could have never learned in a book.

And sadly I think too many dog lovers miss out on witnessing this blessing.

  

The interaction, the connection and discovery.

It is so much more than just the cuteness factor,

It is witnessing the entirety of what makes a dog a dog

 

 Pure unconditional love from the beginning.

Woo Woo Welcome Again!

My husband Mark will be taking the reins of today's post. A bit of Monday Memories and current events. He's a talker that boy and there's no stopping him when he's talking about the dogs. BOL! This is our very first post three years ago yesterday. We wanted to share it with those you may not have seen it. Here we are still talking about the same things 3 years later.

June 10, 2010

Woo Woo Welcome

My wife, asked me how I wanted to start out the first post of our dog blog. She was at a loss for ideas. (Not surprisingly because she has done all the blog work so far.)

All I know is what I witnessed when Brut and Silver had their first and last litter of puppies on Jan. 2, 2008 was nothing short of (lost for words) Never in my life have I ever experienced or witnessed, read or seen in any movie what began at 2:50 am when Zappa was born and continued through until Fiona was the last one out. When Fiona was stuck and I pulled her out, I was overjoyed that she was OK.

It is a high that I still have to this day. An amazing miracle of God. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that night. It changed me in a way that I’ll never look at life the same. I thought I knew what unconditional love was before, but what I have witnessed since that night has made me a different person. It changed my whole outlook on humans, animals, simply everything. When we got Blaze and Chance back, it made me realize how short and precious life really is.

I hope this blog will be able to show and tell even half of what my wife and I want to express to people that think dogs are just dogs. Believe me my friends, dogs are much more. If you pay attention to the dogs around you, they can teach you more than you ever thought possible about yourself, the people around you and what life is really about.-Daddy

Our goal is not so much to share how much we love our dogs, but how much their love means to us. In a world that is full of cruelty, sorrow and pain, there is nothing better than having 24 Paws of Love. -Mommy

Please check out each dog’s story, (link name under picture) and share in the unconditional love they each bring.

And here's Mark (Daddy):

It was three years and one day ago that we started blogging for the world to see our life with our 2 packs of Love.  The 24 Paws of Love.  From which there is no doubt were sent from heaven above.  Even though we try to explain in words the true meaning of our life with our family words can not describe the true feelings of what our 2 packs mean to us.  There are not enough hours in the day to spend and explain what and how the love of our dogs have done for us.

Loyalty

No you won't find it anywhere like in dog.  And it seems it is more than a lost idea or concept, when it comes to people.  It is almost nonexistent.  People are swayed by the way the wind blows, like shifting reeds in the fields.  They could learn a thing or two, if they were willing to open their mind to it and the beauty that exist when there is loyalty and trust between two beings.

A beaten dog keeps crawling to its master, why?  I believe they are trying to plead their loyalty.  Dogs will do ANYTHING to prove their loyalty to said human.  Dogs are here for them no matter what, if they would just turn and look into those merciful eyes.  Dogs will forgive if they will just let them.  And no matter what dogs will always love them.  

Dogs will stand by your side, through the thick and thin of life, emotions, mistakes and even the a misguided deliberate action.  It is more than just counting on them, they are engaged 120%.  To walk by your side, next to you until the very end of time.  Devoted like no other creature on this earth.  Devotion that never gives up on you and that never dies.  Devotion like that I have seen in Chance, Blaze and Brut who still forgive their abusers and will carry their loyalty to the grave for them.  Loyalty that stakes a claim in your heart and seals your fate with them, whether you want it or not.  Whether you accept it or not.  Whether you like it or not.  It is there.

And when you embrace that special moral quality that makes a dog a dog, you will open your senses to the ways and wonders of a love that is like no other.  One that sings in the rain, howls at the moon, and runs like the wind, setting your spirit free.  It rings though your soul and grounds you to your very being.  For there is nothing like that devotion, that loyalty or love that brings the heart of humans to the ground, if you let it.  If you will take the chance and are willing, you will find the real meaning of true, honest to goodness, pure hearted loyalty.