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My Life has gone to the DOGS, but I'm very happy.

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I'm crazy about dogs; Not Nuts!

Hello everyone, my name is Rick Hyman and I'll tell you the truth- a lot of our friends and neighbors think we're crazy or just plain ol dumb. Why? Even though we are currently down to only two dogs, my wife and I have had as many as five at once. Quite frankly, we don't care what any one thinks because we have always gotten so much enjoyment from them being a part of our family. We laugh and smile at them daily, and we cry and grieve when we lose them, as though they were human.

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How did I get in this happy mess?

OR... Be careful where you step.

This all started innocently enough. I was a bachelor and had one puppy. The cross of a German Short haired Pointer (Mom was multiple trophy winner) and a black lab. Her name was raisin because when she was little that was what she looked like, and was often mistaken for a Chocolate Lab. We were happy and she was daddy's little girl.

You know what happened next. I fell prey to the lures of a lovely Lady, Janeen, who I am still married to. Of course, since we had similar interests, it was inevitable that she already had THREE dogs. Yes, I wound up with step dogs, that I eventually loved as my own.

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The adaptation

Let me tell you something- those first few months of marriage were a challenge. My "baby girl" was used to sleeping with me every night, so the first night my new wife crawled into bed (in Raisin's usual place), she got snarls and long sighs.

My step dogs and I had our own challenges adjusting to this new situation. One step son Danny Boy (German Shepard mix) had a a problem with his younger brother, wookie (some kind of terrier mix), who thought he was ten foot tall and bullet proof, and antagonized poor Danny when ever we were all together. Wookie was on the verge of gettin' a butt whippin' or worse from Danny. In short, Danny wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and Wookie had a HUGE attitude problem.

We eventually all learned to enjoy one another and became a family. We had to give poor Wookie to a good friend of ours. We were afraid we would come home and find him dead or injured.

Adoption and the Latest

We have never purchased a dog. We have adopted several from the local shelters. We have also "adopted" strays. We live in the country and the irresponsible and cruel in the world often dump their unwanted pets off out here. One of current dogs, Angel, is the puppy of a stray, Dixie, who was living (barely) at an abondoned farm house across the road from us. When we saved here, we did not realize she was pregnant (pups pictured below).

Dixie had 3 pups, and one died at birth. They all had problems more than likely due to the poor nutritional condition of Dixie when we found her. The largest was a pup we named Magoo because she was almost completely blind. When she was about a year old, she developed some kind of Viral infection and was gone before we knew it. Again we cried and our little "Cemetery" grew a little larger.

Angel was normal until about two years ago, when she started to develop cataracts and is now almost blind. She is happy and healthy and knows her way around the house, through the doggie door, and into their large pen. Of course when we walk the property she has to be on a leash. She still loves to go walking, and yes, play ball.

As I said we are now down to just two "kids". Angel, an Australian Shepard and Blue Healer mix, and Buster, another Terrier mix. Buster (pictured above in Santa hat) has more personality than any dog I've ever seen. If I were a professional trainer, I just know he would be in the movies. His latest crack-me-up moment: while watching a dog show on the Animal Planet, a dog barked. Buster approached the big screen tv and then attempted to look behind the tv to find this intruder.

In closing, we could not imagine not having any dogs in our lives. They bring us joy and friendship everyday. My last wish- If there is reincarnation- I want to come back as a dog in a house like ours. These guys think they are People and we treat them that way. Like I said, people think we are nuts. I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane.

Enjoy your family, which I hope includes dogs.

Dogs stuck playing inside

Cold days suck, but they still had their fun.

Dogs playing
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Magoo and Angel as puppies

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Reader Feedback

  • lakern26 Aug 10, 2009 @ 4:13 pm | delete
    Lensrolled to A Dog Lover's Tale.
  • lakern26 Aug 10, 2009 @ 4:12 pm | delete
    That was such a nice story! I don't happen to think you're nuts - we had four dogs at once, that is, until two passed away a short time ago. Thanks so much for sharing your family with us.
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