"Never close your lips to those whom you have opened your heart." - Charles Dickens

This quote perfectly sums up the relationship between a certain Rhodesian Ridgeback/German Shepherd mix and Pug I know quite well.

The pictures below do all the talking...

Those two lovers are my daughter pup and nephew pup, Buster.

They define the quote, "Love knows no boundaries." :)

You Learn Something New Every Day

A few weeks ago I got a job (praise God!!) which is why I haven't been blogging much. The first week was pretty rough. The whole getting up super early again and making sure I'm in bed by "my bedtime" was hard to re-adjust to. However, the hardest part was leaving Leia at home. After spending 4 months at home with her every single day, it was very emotional having to leave her in a cage all day again. I literally bawled every morning the first week of work (and there are still some weepy mornings). I wasn't just crying when I was saying goodbye and kissing her cute little face... there were tears through the whole morning and getting ready for work process. She was used to use rolling out of bed around 8 am, taking long walks several times a day, going to the dog park at least every other day... she was just used to constant attention and action and now I was leaving her again. I know... she's a dog, not a child. Jeff tried repeatedly to reason with me when he saw the tears begin to roll but nothing worked. My heart was heavy for my poochie and I was worried she wasn't getting enough energy out.

We all know with any new job comes learning new things and developing new skills... and with this job there have certainly been plenty of things for me to learn. But these new skills and tricks have not all been at the office... (Where is she going with this?)

The most important new skill I've learned being employed again is the art of playing fetch while blow drying my hair. Yes. Leia has always loved when I blow dry my hair and she stands and nips my blowing hair and I dry it. One morning she was hovering around me as I was blow drying my hair and I was on a tight time crunch, feeling bad that I couldn't really play with her. I told her, "Go get your toy," which is a new command she's learned (almost). She obediently (this is a word used rarely for her) brought it back and I proceeded to throw the toy down the hall for her to chase... then got back to blow drying. She brought the toy back and I repeated the process. DING! <---light bulb going off. I can play with my pooch as I blow dry my hair! Since then I've perfected this process and mastered the art of sitting on the floor outside my bathroom (thankfully the cord stretches just long enough for optimal seating to face down our long hall way where I throw the toy) so I can blow dry my hair while throwing Leia's toy for her. Its perfect! Do I wish I had all day with her again? Yes, of course. But this little 6ish minutes of toy throwing and Leia running is a perfect solution to getting out (some) of her morning energy. I haven't always been a "blow dry my hair every morning" kind of girl but now its a sweet time with my baby girl that I look forward to and won't miss. I'm so thankful for this new skill (can I really even call it that?) I've learned being employed.

You may have read those, "Tips for Working Out or Toning Up While Getting Ready for Work." Well now I've taken it up a notch... maybe I'll write a book, "The Art of Playing with Your Dog While Getting Ready for Work." We'll see.

I wonder whose rolling their eyes at this point?

Yes, my dog is a spoiled brat.