Dog Days of Summer...

My dogs rule! Let me just first say that. We have come a long way with them, from not being able to leave the front door to our house open for fear they would run off and never come back, to being able to leave the front door wide open the entire time we unload groceries without them running out. From being afraid that Brollie would plow a two year old straight over, to him only wanting to obsessively sniff them. From being drug around the block with the dogs full speed ahead of me, to them walking properly right next to me. From barking incessantly at every frog that jumped, to simple whining due to the over stimuli of two new puppies on each side of our house. This is pretty cool!!! We have progress folks. The key to raising anything well, I do believe, whether it be a hamster, a duck, a dog, or a child, is consistency. I could write a book on this aspect of raising any living being. I swear, consistency, it works. Anyway, back to my dogs... Since Wes's schedule changed I have been getting up with him in the morning and then walking our dogs at the early morning hour of 6:30 am. At first this happened simply because Brollie was so hyper and bouncing off the walls I thought that I had two choices, 1. knock him out, or 2. walk him a long way and get rid of some of this energy before I left him unattended while working all day and thus our journey began. I decided that since it's normally a blazing 90 some degrees when I get home from work that walking in the morning is a much better idea. So we began the routine of walking every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 630 am. This has been going on for months. It never ceases to amaze me that every morning my dogs are so excited when they see me pick up a pair of socks or shoes or move the leashes because socks, leashes or sneakers obviously = walk. No matter what that is the equation and that is final. I think to myself every morning, come on, seriously, you're still excited for this? It's the same thing every day! It's inevitable, yet you still get so hyped up! Then I thought to myself, wow, pretty cool. I should strive to be more dog like, to appreciate the everyday things in my life that I often take for granted and to be grateful for life. To slow down as Mike always says at church and enjoy what I have. This morning and often times in the morning or when I'm outside anywhere, I find myself thanking God for life, for my dogs, for the ability to breath the fresh air and feel the sunshine on my face and for my legs to carry me on a 45 minute walk every morning. My dogs are truly grateful to me for this walk and I am grateful to them for showing me that simplicity and routine sometimes is bliss. It also never fails that when I come home, no matter how early or how late, they are ecstatic to see me, they greet me with wagging tails and happy energy every single day, even though I've come home the same way the day before. Pretty cool. Although they're just dogs (as some people like to put it), they are my dogs, they are a part of me. They make me happy beyond belief. I love them so much that I often have a difficult time leaving in the morning because they sit by the door and look at me like don't go! We have attended many a dog class back in the day when I thought I wanted to just scream because they were so frustrating, but today I can truly look ahead to parenthood and think that I might be able to raise some pretty well rounded children if I could raise two super smart dogs. Although Brollie still randomly rips my mini blinds down and Eva still sometimes decides it would be a good idea to bathe herself in saliva on my freshly laundered down comforter, they are still the best dogs ever! I love them for motivating me to walk them every morning and to enjoy the simple things in life that are free and full of love, such as a simple summer morning walk.