My doggie....

You see that dog right there, right above these words....the one cuddling with that mean cat (and she is!)?? That dog is the most loyal being I know...

Last April, our old dog, Chance, passed away from Renal failure. We knew it was coming, but yet we were still devastated. We made sure that Sparky was aware that Chance had passed before we buried him. And in that moment, when Sparky saw Chance, he understood what job had been passed on to him.

Sparky, aka the Sparky Marky, the worthless lump of fur, the DOG DOG, the goofball canine....our dog. He was an impulse for me...I wanted another baby, but not a human baby. I wasn't ready for one yet, so we got Sparky. My husband had no clue - I just told him to meet me at the Humane Society one afternoon after work. And home came Sparky...

He brought life back to the old dog. They played for the longest time, until Old dog just got to sick to play. And then the shift of power. The job that Sparky took on was protector of the family. I always knew Old dog would have protected us, but never witnessed it. I witnessed Sparky protect us, many times.

Old dog passed when we were remodeling the house. To remodel our house, we had to have an electrician come in and rewire some things and also add some stuff hubby wanted added. The electrician came only a day or two after old dog passed, and Sparky made him know what his new job was. Sparky scared the electrician so much, he asked my husband to put him away. Us, have to put away Sparky, the dork?? It was weird, but we did...

Sparky will protect like no other. Now, if someone is at the door, he lets us know. He will sit faithfully by the front door to see if someone is invited in. If they are, he is fine. If they are not invited in, he won't let them in. How do I know...they are called Jehovah's Witnesses. And he told them they weren't welcome. But my mom and dad, are. He has his favorite perch at the top of the stairs, where he can watch the ongoings, and protect the kids. If my parents try to go up the stairs with out one of us, he will let them know that they are unwelcome and he is the last line of defense between the kids and whoever is coming. I have the utmost faith if someone did breech the door - he would give me enough time to arm myself...and then let me take care of it.

Yesterday, Sparky and I took advantage of the 50 degree temps and my day off and we went on our normal 2 mile walk. It had been a while since we had gone, and he was very excited to go. The first 1/2 mile was me reminding him of the rules of how we walk together. After that, he was cool. I was be-bopping along to my Bon Jovi when Sparky became alerted. Now since it was a nice day, there were many other people around. He always lets me know if there is someone behind me by doing this turn thing. He didn't turn, though. His hackles went up. I stopped and turned just in time to see a dog charging us. The dog, no bigger than Sparky, was making it known that we were not welcome. Sparky, being my protector, went to stand in front of me. Me, being the pack leader, stood in front of him. When I did that, the other dog stopped. I was able to get close enough to the dog to see that the only collar it was wearing was a rabies tag, no ID tag. I saw the house the dog ran from, and the squealing woman was a good indication that it was her dog.

As I tried to turn to go, I got out of in between Sparky and the other dog...and game on. Sparky stood his ground, and waited. The other dog charged again, and Sparky went for it. He and the other dog were in a brief fight, to which was ended by me yelling 'HEY' and yanking on the leash. Sparky knew to listen to me, and off we went.

We finished our walk with out any other incidents. And when we got home, Sparky got lots of love and affection. I know that this silly dog, who lets the baby pull up on him, and beat on him while he screams 'DOG DOG' will fight to the death for his family. The dog, who lays nose to nose with a 10 year old cat who has nothing better to do than try to find a warm spot to sleep. Our dog, who is our protector, our play mate, and a giver of unconditional love....yup...that is my doggie....