Deuce

I am feeling what must be a common maternal feeling - guilt. I had a post about one of my dogs, Butter, and though I mentioned Deuce in the blog, it really was only in relation to what he means to Butter. Today I feel like, "Wait, Nikki, you have to explain how much you love Deuce, too! You have to give him his own introduction." So here it is.

We got Deucey while we lived in San Diego. We went to the shelter, and in a kennel next to him was a litter of lab/boxer mix puppies. Like 10 week old puppies. Everyone at the shelter that day was ooh-ing and aah-ing and gathered around that kennel. Because I always go for the older, overlooked dogs (puppies, I tell myself, will find homes; older dogs may not), we walked past the puppies with only a quick peak. Sure enough, we see this long legged black dog in the next kennel, laying on his little bed with his legs outstretched with this look like "No one loves me." We tried to get him to move up to the fence, to come up toward us. He just layed there, turned his long nose and sad eyes toward us with a look that said, "Just go on. Don't tease me. I know you want the puppies, not me." Derek and I both fell in love! He was about 2 years old, and we were thinking of an older dog (for my reasons above), but the look on Deuce's face made us change our minds. We went home, picked up Butter, had a chance for them to interact in a play area. Butter fell in love as quickly as we did. They LOVED each other. If I didn't believe in love at first sight before then, seeing how Butter came alive with Deuce made me believe in it then.

I cried that night we got Deuce and the next day because I was scared I could never love him as much as I love Butter. Sure enough, it took no time for me to learn there is really no limit to how much or how many people or dogs I can love. I love Deuce for all that he is - mischievious, demanding at times, in need of structure, affectionate, sweet, jealous, crazy, smart, eager to please, willing to do his part, lazy in the mornings but always in need of exercise, scared and brave all at once, funny. He is a sweetheart. I don't have pictures that do him justice (at least on my computer), but these will do for now. They show him in the "lazy in the morning" and "affectionate" mode.....hard to capture the crazy, energetic mode (b/c usually in those moments, my hands are too full trying to keep up with him to take pictures).

(The images will come another day...Blogger is telling me they are uploaded, but they aren't showing up....I will try tomorrow).