Dodger

                                                    

I need to introduce you to the little boy of our family.  Dodger is a 10 year old Boston Terrier.  I have spent a lot of time talking about the big dog of the family, Roy.  Dodger is a house dog as you can tell by his picture and he is very loved and spoiled.  He, however, greets the 110 pound Roy with all of the excitement he can in his less than 20 pound body every day after work.  He jumps on him and paws at his face.  The big dog just waits patiently.  He understands little dog is neurotic that way.

I won't spend time teaching you about Boston Terriers.  You can google the breed if you are interested.   I will share with you the "tails/tales" of Dodger though.   He truly has had 9 lives.

We ended up with Dodger much to the dismay of my husband and daughter.  We had to say goodbye to our family pet, Pepper the Boston Terrier, and within two weeks I had picked out and brought home another to fill the empty spot.  Now as I look back, I know it wasn't fair to the rest of the family who wasn't ready yet, and I was actually just beginning to go through empty nest as our last child was soon to leave home.  So . . . all in all . . . everyone would say it was a great idea I had :)  
Dodger has been the most loving pet.

I hope that somewhere out there a Boston pet owner reads this because they can truly appreciate how "they" are.  Dodger first ate enough of the sofa cushion stuffing to nearly cause him to have open abdominal surgery to remove it . . . fortunately mega-enemas worked the trick by the veterinarian.  Then one night Dodger got skimmish as I was vacuuming and threw himself against the dresser handle and split his side open.  Called for 18 staples under anesthesia.  The little mutt's cork-screw tail grew into his backside causing him great pain - had to be amputated.  He was lost one day for six hours.  We cried.  He came running in the back door thankfully.  Most recently he stopped eating and stopped being "neurotic" that's a bad sign for a Boston . . . off to the vet again . . . IV's, x-rays, more IV's, antibiotics, more x-rays and a week later open abdominal surgery to remove a piece of rubber toy.  Along with a few more minor things like getting his own paw stuck in his collar, being afraid of laundry baskets, and hiding when I raise my voice, his life has been uneventful :) 

We love him because he listens to us and understands our words, he requires fleece blankets to sleep with, he prefers to sleep between us, he can travel to the Rocky Mountains and follow us wherever we go, he snuggles especially with our daughter and our granddaughter, he waits patiently for our empty plates, he is truly devoted to us. 

Everybody should have a Boston.