Blast-Off Mom!: "Diddy"

We have another child in our home that I have not mentioned until now, our furbaby Louie, who turns 15 human-years old this month (that's 105 in doggie years!). Louie is a Shih-tzu and was my dog before I met Jeremy.   I picked him out from a breeder's kennel in Louisville, which now years later I'm horrified to realize and admit was actually a terribly dirty, horrible puppy mill that should have probably been shut down. But I was so enamored by the puppies every time I went, I just didn't pay much attention to their surroundings and everything else. Anyway...the first time I laid eyes on him he was 1 week old. The breeder was very ticked off about "Baby Bubba" as she called him, as he was the only puppy born to his momma this particular breeding cycle (no telling how many times the poor momma had been bred).   The breeder was hoping for a much larger litter I assume. And "Bubba" was way bigger than he should have been for a Shih-tzu, add to that he had a little umbilical hernia...and well he was just not going to bring her much money. He would never be "Show quality", etc. etc. etc.   Well of course, I had to have "Bubba".    I laid claim to him and went back every week to visit until I was able to bring him home, at 5 weeks.   I was in love. My baby "Bubba".   His official given name on his AKC papers became Louisville Cardinal...but I have always just called him Louie.

When I first moved to Missouri, I became a renter and was not allowed to have pets. "Grandma and Grandpa" were kind enough to take Louie in until Jeremy and I married and bought a house of our own. The day we finally moved Louie to Missouri, after he had lived with my parents for about a year, I remember Jeremy wasn't too thrilled with the idea. He had actually only met Louie on a few visits to my parents house and he had never really grown up with pets inside the house. Not to mention we had just moved into our first house together, complete with brand new leather furniture.   Grateful that Jeremy was at least willing to allow Louie into our family, I allowed him to set some ground rules... they were:
1) No Louie on the couch, recliner, ottoman, loveseat, etc.
2) No Louie in our bed.
and so on, and so on.
I respected these rules. We had all hardwood floors in our home so I went out and purchased Louie his first real dog bed, as I felt bad that he was going to have to sleep on the cold hard floor all the time. We had a soft furry rug on our bedroom floor for him too.
I still remember the night that Louie totally stole Jeremy's heart, as he had mine all those years before. I think it was about two-weeks after he came to live with us. Jeremy and I were sitting on our new leather furniture, watching a movie and we might have even had a fire going in the fireplace. The next thing I knew Jeremy was "inviting" Louie up onto the couch with us. And that was "all she wrote." From that moment on Louie became the little king of our family...sleeping where ever he wanted, when ever he wanted...including at the foot of our bed at nights.    He was my first child and I loved watching Jeremy "adopt" him.

Then came Chance and Luci and I'm sad to say that over time, Louie slowly became more dog than child. I love him. He still sleeps at the foot of our bed most nights, while the kids sleep soundly in their own room. He's a part of our family. I love him. But I'll be the first to admit he hasn't gotten the attention he once has, the affection, the grooming...the anything really. Some days I admit he is just another chore for me to take care of.   I get aggravated with him, he's under my feet. He wants out, he wants in.   He poops in my van because he gets nervous when I take him to the groomers.   He growls at the shower because he wants me to open the glass door and turn it on for a few seconds so he can get a little "drinky" (something daddy somehow got him hooked on and spoiled with). Some days he just drives me crazy. Then I see him sleeping under the Christmas tree, which is STILL up on January 3rd, and I realize I still love him to pieces and he's now 15 years old...and I'm not sure if there will be another Christmas with him.

Louie has also captured the love and affection of Chance and Luci. They adore him.   Newborns first see the contrast of black and white so they could see Louie very clearly when they were babies and their eyes would follow him across the room. Occasionally he would creep up to them while they were on the floor, before they were mobile, and sniff them or give them a little lick and they would laugh and reach out to touch his fur.   Then the crawling started and poor Louie, who was used to sleeping about 23 out of 24 hours every day, didn't know what hit him. He was on a constantly moving rotation from place to place on the floor as they would crawl after him, just hoping to get a handful of fur. Louie would let them get just within reach and then move away again...and off they would go crawling again. Sometimes, if he was good and asleep, they could surprise him and actually reach him before he moved...but only for seconds before he moved on to his next destination.   And then the walking started and poor Louie realized that it just wasn't worth it to get up and move anymore...the kids won.   We taught them to love Louie, "Little Dog" as Jeremy had kind of nicknamed him over time. Be nice to Louie. Be gentle with Louie.   And they have been.   And "Little Dog" has grown to love them too, I believe.

Now the talking has started and Louie has now become know as "Diddy".   Not as in "P. Diddy" but as in some kind of morphed pronunciaton of Louie combined with "Little Dog" that Daddy says. The kids can't say their "L's" yet. As a result, Luci calls herself "Dici" and she calls Louie "Diddy Dog" or just plain "Diddy".    Chance can't say his D's yet so he says "Ga Ga" for Doggie.    When we arrive home from being gone they are so excited to go find "Diddy". And "Diddy" has learned that meal times were never more fun now that there are 2 two-year olds dropping food on the floor constantly. Yes, the kids have won "Diddy" over with their Cheerios, Bunny Crackers and who knows what else they feed him when I'm not looking.

Chance, Luci & Diddy...Friends for life. Happy Birthday Little Dog. We all love you and hope we have you around for a lot longer.

Louie listenting intently to Luci's "reading".