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7.24.2013

Our Best Friend

My favorite part of every evening is when I pull up to our gate and see this little guy's smiling face and wagging tail. It's hard to come home in a bad mood when he's there to greet you with such excitement he can hardly stand still. But while he's dancing from foot to foot out of pure joy that his best friend's home, I feel a pang of guilt.
The truth is, Huck has it waaaaaay better than most dogs, yet I still feel horrible leaving him alone for 8 hours 5 days a week (well, 4 days a week. He still attends daycare on wednesdays). He has a safe and secure one acre lot to run around in with full access to a 3 car garage that has nothing in it but his bed, his toys, and a carpet for him to chew on. He even has a heat lamp to keep him extra toasty in the colder, rainy months here in Seattle. He's a pretty spoiled pup. And I think he knows it.
Because I feel a lot of guilt for leaving him during the work day, I pretty much take him everywhere with Steven and I whenever I can. He attends all our friends BBQs, is our constant walking buddy and fishing companion, and even goes on Home Depot runs with us from time to time. I make up for my absents during the work day by having him glued to my side on evening and weekends.
And if we have a day that isn't full of exciting adventures for Huck, I make sure to bribe him into still loving me by giving him lots of yummy treats. Like I said...he's spoiled.
I got thinking about all of this while I was taking Huck to daycare today. It's kind of ridiculous that Steven and I pay for him to attend daycare every Wednesday at MaryEllen's. Lord knows it isn't exactly cheap and Huck is already so spoiled anyway... I thought maybe this is something we can cut from our budget to help us save a little dough, you know? It's not like he's crated all day while we're at work, he has plenty of opportunity to stretch his legs all week long....and, and, and...

And I can't do it, because I realized I take Huck to daycare more for my sake than his own. When Huck is happy, well socialized, tired, and content it directly affects me. I take him to daycare because it brings me joy to see him run and play (MaryEllen sends me photo updates all throughout the day while he's there), I spoil him by taking him on all our adventures because I just love when he's by my side. He's a part of our family.

Steven and I obtain endless pleasure from Huck. Sure, I'll admit it more readily than him, but this spoiled pup has kinda changed our lives. And we just love him dearly.

And all this makes me think, "Oh man, am I screwed when we have kids..." Ha! 

21 comments:

Sara E. said...

This is SO sweet! Dogs are truly members of the family :)

ps- your house? Gorgeous!

Health, Love & Fire said...

I feel the same way when leaving my black lab at home all day. I know he's fine, but I just feel badly. Your dog is absolutely adorable by the way!

Cara said...

I feel the same way and I'm home all day with Bosley and when I'm not, he is at my parents' house swimming in the pool and the river. So why do I still feel guilty? I have no idea. I think it is just because they are so helpless and their whole life revolves around us and being with us. Huck is definitely luckier than most to be able to run around all day and play and he isn't locked up in a crate. I think its a feeling that will never go away. These pictures of Huck are too cute!

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, I would be pretty nervous about taking my dogs to a daycare!

Katie said...

i have literally sat at my desk in tears i worry so much about my dog scooby. hes my best friend and i just feel awful leaving him everyday. but the way i spoil him.. i have to make money somehow to afford all the treats! i just signed him up for doggie daycare once a week starting next week too. i feel your pain.

ps. i LOVE huck! scooby is only 7 months old so he is a crabby teen now. i hope every day he ends up as sweet and loving as huck..

understated-whimsy.com

Anonymous said...

As a dog mom I can totally relate! I'm so lucky because Casey can come to work with me almost everyday, but on the few days he can't come I feel so bad leaving him home, even though I know he'll just sleep. I shell out way more than I probably should to take him to daycare a few times a month, but if nothing else it makes me feel better. It sounds like Huck has a great setup being able to go outside all day!

Corinne said...

I hope you don't think I'm a bad Mom (or person) - but for the first 2 years of Miley's life we lived in a 700 sq ft apartment in Pittsburgh and Russ and I both worked away from home, having at minimum 8 hour days. We made up the best we could once we walked in the door and made sure to give her adequate attention (and outside time) in the morning as well as the evenings. But I get it. We couldn't afford a doggie day care otherwise we would have. Plus, I took the bus to work and Russ was always moving locations with rotations so it would have been a huge headache.
Now, she still stays inside during the day, but we have a home (which thankfully is much bigger than our apartment!) but I still understand what you mean.
Seeing how happy and excited she is every time we walk in the door just makes my heart melt, but also makes me feel bad that she was waiting for us all day long.
So I completely understand how you're feeling! It's hard!
(and yes, I also worry what this means as to how I will handle actual human children, not just fur-children!)

Maggie said...

Oh my gosh! I love every part of this post. Dogs are our best friends and kids rolled into one.

Coming home to ours is the highlight of my day...no offense to my hubbs :)

k8te said...

oh i am such a pushover when it comes to our pup. i just can't say no to his sweet face. we still crate him while we're at work...but i think we are VERY close to leaving him out, he's out all night now and so far (knock wood) no destruction! i'm sure the doggie daycare is money well spent though! he looks like a happy boy :)

Anonymous said...

i would take my dogs everywhere with me if i could. seriously. they are "technically" my parents but still. i spoil them and feel bad when i'm home and not hanging out with them. lord help me when i have my own dog.

Julie @ A Simply Sweet Blog said...

Huck is so handsome! I hate leaving our dogs too - one of ours used to go to daycare, but now she has bad knees so no rough play for her :/ I think leaving them is harder on us than it is them! I know when I'm home with my dogs during a weekday for some reason they are passed out all day! So while we're worrying, they're probably snoring their day away :)

Jennie said...

Your such a good fur baby mama =)

Kenzie Smith said...

I have a few things to comment on:
1. Your house is freaking gorgeous. I love the color and the white trim. I'm envious to the max.
2. Huck is too stinking cute! And definitely more spoiled than my dogs ha ha.
3. Your husband looks similar to Joseph Morgan (plays Klaus on the Vampire Diaries) and that is definitely a compliment!
4. There is such thing as doggy daycare?

A Life Less Traveled said...

My husband and I have talked about putting our dog in doggie daycare a few times a week, but we haven't yet. Yes, people tease us on how much we spoil our pup.

Jess Bourne said...

Chris and I have an 8 month year old puppy who we treat like our child. We have a dog walker and she goes to daycare- people make fun of us all the time but she is our child and I say why not? They are our furbabies!

Before I had Bailey I had a golden named Champ- he was perfect and reminds me a lot of Huck. Dogs make life so much better!

Melissa Smith said...

Do you ever have any issues with him digging while you are gone? or has he never shown any inclination towards digging? I have two labs and they will sometimes dig, but sometimes not. Do you know how to discourage digging?

Ashley H said...

He is SO dang cute!

I wish we had a daycare around here. I'd take Bentley there once a week. To get rid of his extra energy would be worth it!

Ashley Joy said...

Someone once told me,
"we spoil our pets because they never have to be active, responsible, human beings with morals when they grow up..."

It's true; animals are intended to be spoiled, ...and little consequences when it happens.

The Whitfields said...

Girl, I can totally relate to you! I am the exact same way with my golden retriever, Charlee except for the fact that we live in the city and Charlee is locked up during the day, no crate but in my apartment with no backyard. I run him in the mornings before I come to the office and my beau will come get him quite often in the middle of the day. Suffice to say, Charlee goes everywhere with me and we do daycare quite a bit. We love the dog park and he has all kinds of friends there! Huck is SO cute!

Sarah said...

Goodness, I wrote a very similar post today! I feel awful leaving Floyd at home but I do think he likes his crate but I just wish I could work from home and stay with him!
We take him as much as possible as well on the weekends...I think it sorta makes up for during the week.

Roxy said...

i'm the same with Mr H.
even my worst day at work ends when I unlock the door to my apartment and this huge white bear like creature bounces like a ball to greet me. It's a great feeling when something is so freaking happy to see you. I try to make it up to him for staying home alone so long by taking him everywhere with me on weekends.
xx