Dog Parties and Another Gran-Dog!

Dog parties are common at our house…we started long ago, with Sandy, my first dog who was my birthday present, a first addition to our little family (a.k.a. before kids). Sandy always enjoyed having dog friends over, playing with other neighborhood dogs, or going to play with our parents’ dog.  Toddler Sarah called her “Sandy the Cow” when she was learning about farm animals. Sandy refused to Moo, but otherwise was the perfect big sister, protecting both girls, and appreciating every single crumb they dropped, except for broccoli.  Sandy even taught Grandmother’s poodle pup how to stop using kitty’s litter box and act like a big dog!

Our next dog was our sweet Maggie.  (If you’ve been reading the blog a while, you know about her and her buddy, Dale, who had lots of antics, like going into the pantry early in the morning to help with the oatmeal.)  We got Maggie as an 8-week-old pup, and she was always having friends over. As we all got older, her favorite dog friend was Ivy, (at least once Maggie got over daughter Sarah having another dog!) When we brought Dale, the big old blind Lab, home, it was a few weeks before Maggie started giving us the “When is this one going home?” look.  Eventually, she figured out he was staying and became his protector, even though she wasn’t really sure why he kept bumping into things.

Now we have Sally and Buffy, twice-rescued Lab-mixes from the same litter, and they love playtimes with Ivy, who doesn’t mind them too much, but they adore Maxx, Sarah’s second dog, who is a big yellow Labrador.  They will follow Maxx all around the yard, Buffy stealing all his toys, and Sally trying to kiss his face.  Ivy gazes at them from as far as she can get, looking as if she’s thinking, “Children, children….”

But surprise!  Now there’s another family dog!  Younger daughter Lucy wanted a dog for her birthday, so she and boyfriend Alex went to the pound and came home with Sir Angus Meatball, an impressive version of his original name, but at 70#, he lives up to it. 

Angus has had quite a few adventures, including pulling apart the massive crate borrowed from Maxx and Ivy when he didn’t want to be contained after heartworm treatment.  He’s also had a run-in with the corner of the apartment wall, which left his enormous head completely undamaged, but the wall needs to be repaired.  He’s friendly with his few neighbor dogs and gets along with Sally and Buffy, although they were a little bit scared at first because of Angus’ size. 

We’ve had all five dogs get together only once, at Christmas dinner, which went fine after a few warning barks and sniffs.  Sally and Buffy were a little sad when everyone went home, but Lucy brings Angus over every few weeks, and they see Maxx and Ivy often too.  It’s always a dog party at Hibbard House!