Happy Birthday to my Pup!

Ok, crisis averted. Dealing with car accidents is a pain in the butt but thankfully, I knew of a good body shop that, with my insurance company, made things pretty easy.

I don't actually know exactly when Hunter's birthday is, but we figure it's about this time of year. Now he is 3ish. (Have I ever mentioned I love the number 3? And 23!)

I'd never had a dog before but I had always wanted a golden retriever. My neighbors had two when I was growing up and they'd pay us to take care of their dogs when they were out of town. My brother and I thought it was the greatest ever. When my husband said he wanted a golden retriever too, he immediately started scouring the newspaper for ads.

We bought him at a farm out in the middle of eastern Idaho. I mean literally, you drive to the middle of nowhere and keep going. The lady knew I was coming and when I showed up, I saw the mamma retriever coming toward the drive with a bunch of bouncing furballs behind her. This is how I picked out Hunter:

He was a little more curious than the rest of the litter and came over to inspect the situation. He was scooped up and the lady said, "How about this one?".

I said "yep, looks good to me."

I tucked him in a cardboard box with a towel and brought him to his new home. He cried the whole way. And every night that week. I wondered how long it would go on for? After that first week though, he slept through the night, or at least didn't cry.

Deciding what to name him took a little bit of time. I wanted to give him a human name. I can't really remember most of the suggestions I made that Jeremy wasn't crazy about, I remember one was Sebastian. Ironically, I thought of the name Hunter since we considered teaching him to be a hunting dog. That never happened, but the name stuck.

The puppy stage was fun but tough. I carried him everywhere. We'd walk around the block and he'd bite his leash. He LOVES the snow. But boy, was he a naughty puppy. Chewing up everything, crying when we left him at home alone, typically puppy stuff really. We almost gave him away twice.

But I'm so glad we didn't. We treat him like our child. He is pretty high energy and spoiled and probably thinks he's human but he is very patient. He's gentle with kids (well unless his tail whips them) and loves everyone and anyone.

But he definitely is protective of his family.

When we are sad, he looks up at us with the most mournful eyes. Come to think of that, he does it when he's hungry or when he see's you eating anything.

He is our best friend.

He is the best company and doesn't talk back.

Most of the time,

he's just content to lay at my feet,

or taking a walk or jog.

Hunter is the best dog. Ever.

So this year, I thought I'd give him something special.

You can tell he loves it. ;) I found a halloween costume large enough for a 90 lb. dog!

Only $8 at Wal-Mart. How could I resist! In honor of currently learning about the skeleton. Isn't he so cute? Clearly he isn't amused. Don't worry, I fed him dinner after and all was forgiven.

What's your favorite number?

What do you love about your pet?