Shortly after Simon and I got married and before we thought about having kids, we decided to get a dog. Well, more accurately, I convinced Simon that we should get a dog. A tiny little ball of fur that we named George.
I think perhaps Simon thought we would get a respectable dog, like a lab or a golden retriever, rather than a miniature poodle. Sorry about that. Our friends were going to pick up their second dog from a breeder here in town who only dealt with small dogs but she (the breeder) had somehow managed to get a mid-sized dog from one of her pairings, that was more in the acceptable-to-Simon size range (she thought it would grow to about 35 pounds). But that dog definitely wasn’t for us, the minute she put it in the kennel for us to check out, it climbed up and out of the enclosure. A dog that was an escape artist and way too full of energy was not what we were looking for; he ended up going to a home with three small boys. But then she mentioned she had a pair of black miniature poodles that would be available in a couple more weeks. She brought them out and I was smitten with the little ball of fur (George was about 3 pounds at that point and so adorable). Simon knew it was a lost cause to try to talk me out of getting him. Men are no match against the power of a tiny, cute dog.
Coincidentally, George’s “birth certificate” listed his birthdate as April 29, just one day before our wedding so he was just meant to be our dog. It should be noted, Simon was the one to break first and allow him to sleep our bed after we had him for a few weeks, so I think he was just as smitten as I was. He’s also the one to complain the most because George sleeps between us with his feet poked into Simon… clearly the dog loves me more.
George will forever be out first “child.” Yes, we are those people who love their dog just a little too much. Now I just need to work on getting a second dog added to the mix in the next 3-5 years so when George dies we can have another dog all trained and the boys won’t be without a pet. Simon is not as much in favor of this idea as I am, but we all know eventually I’ll get my way.
ememby 
Oh my….we have so much in common! We got a dog 2 1/2 months after we married (to learn parental responsibilities). But we did get a lab. 🙂 Molly was born one month exactly before our wedding day (Aug. 22), so we thought for sure it was meant to be. Molly is 9 now, and labs typically only live for about 12 years, so we’re toying with the idea of another dog once the Love Shack is done…but she also has some personality traits that we DO NOT want to transpose onto another dog…so, we’ll see.
Wait….this means you have an anniversary coming up, right!?!?!
BTW, totally cute picture of you!
I knew we were kindred spirits… I’m hoping we have at least another 10 years outta George – miniature poodles seem to live forever, hopefully the case with him, I can’t imagine not having my buddy around.
We do have an anniversary coming up, next weekend – we’re celebrating by Simon coaching rugby and us going out to dinner the next day 😉 I do love Sunday night dates!
I grew up with a dog that looked a lot like George. Sadly for the dog, her name was Babette….George is much more dignified. I fall in and out of love with the idea of owning a dog again. Which, I gues, is proof that we are meant to dog sit and not dog own (hint, hint).
Poor Babette… at least it wasn’t Fifi. My aunt and uncle had a white poodle when I was growing up named Spunky and the neighbor had one named Cindy. Spunky was awesome, Cindy was too jealous of me since I took attention away from her (she was used to a life of being fed chicken livers for dinner). George is a great visiting dog – he’s adorable and needy but just yappy enough for you to be glad when he leaves… he may have to make a visit to the Bruinings sometime…