I've always heard that before anyone has a kid, they should have a dog.  Or in our case, two lovable, loyal and absolutely crazy dogs.

Sure they look innocent here, just wait until the doorbell rings

My good pal Ouida recently lost one of her four-legged kids, and her eloquent tribute to Cole inspired me to get a few things out of my head too.  To echo her sentiments, if your pets aren't a part of your family, you're doing it wrong.  These guys live inside, eat the bestest of dog foods and are spoken to like human people on the reg.  They are pack animals, we are their pack leaders (sometimes), and subsequently, they love being around and close by.  Nothing makes them crazier (aside from the aforementioned doorbell, rattle, knock, or imaginary knock) than when we just won't settle down in the same place.  They need to keep their eyes on us and that's MUCH easier when we're close by.

A little back story on the canine fam.  I got Wrigley as an 8 week old puppy.  We always had dogs growing up, and after college I was ready for one of my own.  Weimaraners are cute puppies.  Wrigley was cute AND famous.

July 1st in the 365 Puppy a Day Calendar

I spent all kinds of time teaching her the ropes.  She had a doggie doorbell that she used to tell us when she needed to go outside.  This was retired after she figured out the doorbell would also get her outside most any time she rang it, regardless of any call of nature.  I also wanted her to be a frisbee dog.  Check.  She loves the thing and has mad skills.  The word frisbee is off limits at our house unless you mean it.

(Agreed)

Wrigley was an only dog until she was about four, a.k.a., "the time that weimaraner  puppies settle down".  Now that she's 10, I'm a firm believer that weimaraner puppies never settle down.  These pups being pack animals, they don't like being left at home alone, and when an opportunity to rescue another pup dropped into our lap, we took it, and so Cooper joined the family to keep Wrigley company.

An early pic of Coop.  This pretty much sums up his personality.

And a more recent shot.  He was banged up with a broken toe, but that didn't diminish his love of a sunny spot, as well as the uncanny ability to fall asleep sitting up.

Cooper acclimated himself to his new surroundings pretty quickly.  He came from a family with a lot of kids and was a hungry fella.  He got handouts all the time and extra food if he "seemed hungry".  Big boy tipped the scales at 90 pounds on his first trip to the vet, but has since slimmed down to around 75 healthy lbs.  We learned pretty soon that anything edible (that includes food (duh), paper, books, toilet paper, bills, etc.) was fair game and had to be out of reach when no one's around.  I consider that a light course in baby training.

Fast forward to current day and we have two 10 year old (gasp) senior dogs.  Now, I hate to even mention this movie or the feelings it stirs in me, but a couple years back Ruth Ann made me watch Marley & Me.  I made it until the end, but it was not a happy movie.  I'm still a little bit mad at Ruth Ann for making me watch it and thinking that I may too be in the same boat as the lead character making "that" trip to the vet.  Sheesh.  I choose to mostly ignore that part of pet ownership until absolutely necessary.

I'm excited for still unnamed Baby Timmons to have 4-legged friends and can't wait to see how they adjust to having someone new shack up with us.  They haven't met him yet, but I'm sure he's heard them "protecting" the house.  Sorry in advance, guys, for the knock down you'll take on the family totem pole, but here's to you and your 8 legs of crazy.  I know you'll be good siblings for Baby T!