H-Dawg

In thinking of things that have happened in the past year since my self imposed blog sabbatical, I realized that most of you haven't met the newest member of our family.  No, I don't mean baby #2, I'm talking about doggy #1 - Hurley!  Or as he's more affectionately known as, Hurley Dawg, Doggy boy, or (on the mean streets of Tacoma) H-Dawg. 

Hurley is a 75 pound Labradoodle that seems more like a mini horse in our small house.  We got him as a 3 month old puppy when the people that bought him from the breeder had to give him up because they lived in a condo in Seattle that only allowed dogs up to 30 pounds; Hurley was 20 pounds at 3 months!  In any case, most people honestly asked if we were crazy for getting a puppy when we had an 18 month old human and, for the first few weeks, I was starting to think that we were.

It wasn't too long though, until we started to get into a rhythm.  Hurley figured out the idea of going outside to do his business and we got used to his needs to and now we're a big, happy family.  The cats have even learned the art of tolerance and now live in peace.  As long as Hurley gets his daily exercise and doesn't look to burn off some energey by playing a game of kitty tag.

I loved having a dog growing up and the whole point of this was that I wanted the same thing for Cameron.  I also just wanted to have a dog for myself, but that's just between us.  Cameron and Hurley were instant friends and as they both grow older, the bond continues to grow stronger.  He follows her around - usually because she has the leash on him walking him around the house - and she will often go over to him when he's sleeping and lay her head on him.  He's even become part of the night time routine and she usually wants him to sit at my feet as I read her a story.  He happily puts of with all of her kisses, pats, and grabs and always comes back for more. 

We realized that he was the perfect dog one time last year when he was still pretty young.  Sara was sitting on the couch and he was in his usual position of lying between the couch and the coffee table under Sara's legs sound asleep.  Cameron walked over and starting talking to Sara and after a few minutes, Sara realized that Cameron was using Hurley's head as a stepping stool!  She was standing directly on his head with all of her weight (not much really, but still....) and he didn't so much as bat an eye.  Once Sara moved Cameron, Hurley just got up and moved to another spot.  What a good doggie boy!

Hurley at 3 months - how could we not take him home?

BFF's

In need of a haircut!