A Boy and His Dog

My son and our dog have always had a special bond. She was an almost all black, malnourished puppy when we got her. She came with a different name, but we didn't feel it suited her, so we gathered as a family to change her name.

We went through a list of names ranging from typical puppy names to names of Russian leaders. I wanted to name her Voodoo, but I got outvoted. We finally settled on Midnight. Well, I settled for Midnight. Everyone else liked that name.

As I said, she was a malnourished puppy. She was about 3 months old and weighed about 8 pounds. When we took her to our vet, we were told that it was a good thing we got here when we did because there was a really good chance she wouldn't have made it. Happily, she took to good food very well. Verrrrrry well.

She was a puppy. A Lab puppy. Lab puppies looooooooooove to chew. They love to chew with their sharp little puppy teeth. I bought her a wide variety of puppy kongs and chew toys. I froze some with treats inside, I didn't freeze some with treats inside, and some were empty. We had chew toys inside the house and outside in the yard. She had exotic taste though, and preferred other things.

What other things?

An MP3 player, assorted Polly Pocket dolls, clothes, and accessories, Barbie accessories, a Chelsea doll, the remote control for our television, any paper except money (thankfully), pencils, crayons, and one time I caught her chewing a rock. She didn't chew shoes, though, and I was happy about that.

Through the years, she's eaten many foods that have dropped to the floor. We've watched with amusement when something would fall to the floor, Midnight would come running, discover it was celery (or lettuce, or tomatoes, or most vegetables), and look up as if to say, “Really, it's not a steak”. We've been amazed at what she will eat (fish and cereal) and drink. She will lap up my husband's spilled coffee, but not mine. He takes sugar in his, but I don't.

She has quite the sweet tooth.

One time, at one of our Sundays at the pool, a friend had his drink sitting on the deck. It was a fruity drink, pineapple juice, I think, and when he picked it up to take a sip, half was gone. Midnight liked it. We learned to keep our sweet drinks on a table.

We also discovered she was a digger. I used to have plants around my pool, and one that I was very proud of was a hydrangea. I've always loved them, and they wouldn't grow for me. I had finally gotten one to stay alive and actually thrive! Midnight liked it a lot, too, or she really hated it. Either way, she dug up that hydrangea and by digging it up, she destroyed it. That was the summer we counted 22 holes in our yard.

I started off by telling you about the bond between Midnight and my son, though, and there's a reason. My son's bus drops him off in front of the house at about 3:00 each day. Around 2:55, she will start looking out the window.

When she finally hears the bus coming down the street, she goes crazy! I was finally able to capture some of it on film yesterday.

I'd love to see your crazy pet videos and photos!!