(Wo)Man's Best Friend

If you happen to follow me on Instagram - and since at this point it's pretty unlikely that any non-friends will read this, you probably do - you've been inundated with instas of the cutest, smartest, most loveable dog in the world. That's right, it's Merlin!

On Saturday April 26, I brought home the cutest, smartest, most loveable dog in the world.

As you can imagine, I haven't dabbled in anything but housetraining and vet appointments for the past two weeks. He is my new hobby, my free time.

I have no excuse for the stretch of postlessness before adoption day. In fact, it's pretty characteristic of me. I have started more blogs than most. There was the one about Harrisonburg thrift stores for a class project. There was "Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy," a witty commentary on day-to-day life that I still love my best friends for pretending they loved. There was the one I secretly started under an alias as my big workout/diet plan that would transform my life. There was "365 days sans TV" which lasted about two days. There have surely been other less memorable ones.

I thought this one would be different. I made such a commitment to myself that I skipped Blogger and Wordpress and went straight to Squarespace, shelling out the $10 a month. It's a lot for a recent college grad, but let's face it, it's an investment in my future as a world famous blogger who meets Oprah and stuff.

When I went online to my bank statements this month to balance my monthly checkbook/spreadsheet (yes, I'm that meticulous of a budgeter and I still pay for Squarespace - they should pay me for my endorsement!), I saw the website hosting charge and pledged to write something this week.

And since I spent last weekend at the lake house, and forgot all my chalk paint supplies for a soon-to-be-revealed-never-ending project there because I was too busy packing Merlin's stuff (he's essentially a small child), I decided I'd write about what I've been spending my time doing lately: loving the heck out of the (say it with me now) cutest, smartest, most loveable dog in the world.

Sidenote: they should do dog food commercials about the most interesting dog in the world as a play of the Dos Equis commercials.

Other patentable ideas sparked by doggy motherhood:

1. Yankee candles that smell like puppies. They'd fly off the shelves.*

2. Doggy/human salons where you can get your mani-pedi in a comfortable massage chair while your pup has his coat washed and nails clipped. (Next door will be A Painter's Tail where you and your pup are set up with blank canvases and you finger/paw paint along with an instructor. Basically, we're working with a whole town here where you can do all your favorite things with your best canine friend.)*

Surprise! Our first look at Max. Note Josh's cape and mom's face uh-oh-what-have-we-gotten-ourselves-into face.

Longest side note ever. So anyway, I've been thinking about adopting a dog for a while. My family got our chocolate lab, Max, when I was seven years old. One December afternoon on the way home from school, my mom told us there was a surprise waiting for us when we got home. A Christmas present from our uncle, she told us. At this point I'm picturing a board game, which was pretty exciting. But nothing prepared me for the excitement of opening the playroom door to my dad holding a rollie pollie chocolate lab pup. My mom took one look at his paws and shrieked. "Bob, you were supposed to pick the smallest one not the biggest!" Every friend and stranger we saw had the same observation about Max's paws. "He's going to be huge."

And he was. Max grew to be about 115 lbs at his height. His head was the size of a basketball and his tail could knock you off balance or clear a coffee table. But he was a gentle giant.

My dad is a careful consumer. He always does his homework and reads reviews before making purchases. I'm pretty sure he looked into Max's eyes at the breeder and had his only sentimental purchase ever without a glance the puppy feet. Lucky for us, Dad's also an incredibly smart do-it-yourselfer. He can rewire a room for a chandelier, fix every computer problem and build just about anything. He just does his homework and gets to work. And that's what he did with Max.

Because if you're going to have a giant dog in the house with three young kids, he should never bite, never beg for food, come when called and even get the newspaper in the morning to make life easier. Through my dad's patient, consistent training and love, Max did all of this and more. I'm not sure we ever thanked Dad thoroughly for walking Max every morning and training him not to bite our tiny sausage-like fingers, but it meant everything. It meant growing up with a constant unconditionally loving friend and developing a lifelong love of dogs.

Excuse me while I indulge in some Max photos I scanned from the photo albums ....

Max was always up to play with us - even dress up!

Getting Willy, our Schnoodle who shared the house with Max for many years, is a whole other story for another post, but he's a pretty cool dog too. We lost Max in August 2012. I was working as a camp counselor and had known for a while that our beloved buddy's days were numbered. He was old for such a big dog. I'm so glad I got to go home from work early that week to spend my last day with Max, cuddling with my first dog love.

Josh, Jamie and I pose with one-year-old Max for Christmas in 1999.

Max is the reason I wanted to get a dog. Not because they're cute or because of all the likes I could get on Instagram. It's because in Max, I saw what a wonderful companion a dog can be. I know that Merlin and I will have the best possible relationship if he's well trained. And I know it's going to take a whole lot of work. And I have no doubt it will be totally worth it.

My dad and Max on our very first trip to Smith Mountain Lake.

Merlin's first trip to Smith Mountain Lake, where we now have a lake house.

More on how that's going later because honestly, I took way more tangents than I thought I would here and didn't get to share some of our funny first week stories! So more on Merlin coming soon!

Dabble on, y'all.

*if you're a shark tank judge, millionaire entrepreneur or mafia lord looking for a front business, please contact me to buy these ideas from me. K thanks.

StoriesSarah LockwoodMay 8, 2014canine, training, doggie, shelter, obedience training, dog, rescue, puppyComment