Not Just Man's Best Friend

Dogs long ago earned the honor of being dubbed "Man's Best Friend." And I can see many, many reasons why. For instance, when my wife was pregnant and acting out of sorts, I would volunteer to make sure my ole best friend got her exercise. But after seeing my pooch Lucy with my son Buck, well, maybe dogs are a man's best friend, but a dog's best friend is a kid and a kid's best friend is that dog.

Even though Buck is only 8 months old, he has already established a great relationship with Lucy, and vice versa. Even from the youngest of Buck's days, they enjoyed each other's company and that relationship has grown. Anytime Lucy is near Buck, he is either smiling broadly or laughing from deep inside his gut. And Lucy, well, she has a penchant for licking Buck's feet, hands and, sometimes, face, and that only makes Buck laugh harder, which makes Lucy all the more adamant on her task. Sometimes, when I put Buck in his crib, I'll leave the door cracked and when I come back that door is open and there are traces of blonde dog hair left behind—just Lucy making sure her little buddy is alright.

Today's a special day for Lucy. October 20 is the day we designated as her birthday. She was estimated to be 7 months old when we brought her home from the shelter, so we counted back from that day. I need to wrap my work up here so I can get the birthday girl out for a hike. And later, some play time with Buck...and then a nice meaty ham bone.

A side note on the ham bone: Is it really necessary for Petco to label its ham bone with the warning: "Not Suitable for Children"? Although, with the way Buck has been chomping his teething gums, hmmmmmmmm......