Is there anything more wonderful than a puppy?  Playful, cuddly, funny, and oh that puppy breath. Call me crazy (you wouldn’t be the first), but if somebody could figure out how to bottle that stuff I’d keep ‘em in business. 

I can’t imagine my life without a dog or 2 or 3 in it.  If you’ve never owned a dog, or haven’t done so in a long while, and are considering adopting a furry friend, congratulations! 

But (yeah, you knew there had to be a “but”) before you give in to those sweet big brown eyes and puppy licks, remember there’s more to being a responsible dog owner than might be immediately obvious.

Did you know that a significant percentage of dogs found in shelters were put up for adoption by owners who chose the wrong dog for their lifestyle?  So there are a few things to consider.

Want to see exactly what it's like to help a puppy through its first year of life? Check out this week-by-week photo diary of a Boxer -- from 7 weeks to 1 year.

Last month, on a warm sunny day, Jim & I had just returned home from a trip to Canada.

We picked up our dog at the pet sitters, then we all played at home in the backyard together. Tenor was soooo happy to see us. It had been a week -- about the longest he'd been away from us.

Suddenly, he got this urge to just start running... HARD!

Tenor was running laps from corner to corner -- the entire perimeter of our fenceline. When all of a sudden, as he was running and turning the corner, he yelped and fell down. His knee gave out. That was the start of Tenor's 3-legged mobility.

Our Dog Tore His ACL

We immediately called our vet, who said to put him on the Deramaxx pain killers we had leftover from the last time he pulled his leg muscle.  If it continued for more than a week, he wanted us to bring  Tenor in for x-rays.

It continued. The meds didn't help much. Tenor wouldn't put any weight on that back right leg at all. When we took him to the vet for x-rays, it was obvious that he'd torn his ACL.

 

The vet said Tenor had about an inch or so of free-range motion in that knee -- in a direction that he was supposed to have NONE. (More proof that the ligament was torn.)

So we scheduled our initial pre-op visit with the veterinary surgeon who comes highly recommended in these parts: Dr. Samuel Beckman with Affiliated Veterinary Specialists here in Nashville. (They're also the doctors associated with the after-hours emergency care center.)

 

So we took our vet's x-rays to the surgeon (Dr. Beckman), who also did a visual exam of Tenor and agreed the TPLO surgery was necessary.

By the way, while examining Tenor's x-rays (one set included his hips), Dr. Beckman said that Tenor will never have a problem with his hips -- they look REALLY good. Whew! some good news for a change!

Dr Beckman also spent a good deal of time explaining to us the parts of a dog's knee, how the knee and ACL work in dogs -- including ways that they're similar and ways that they're different from a human's ACL and a human's knee, the options for this type of injury, and what to expect in terms of the surgery and recuperation period.

Subtitled: "Just Who Did We Buy Those Expensive Pillows For Anyway?"

We recently invested in a new set of down pillows for our master bedroom. Actually two sets of pillows -- one King size and one Standard size. And these are some super-duper pillows, too.

They're a premiere line of hotel-quality pillows from Hampton Inn. (And yes, they were expensive.)

The only thing is... sometimes I think our dog enjoys those pillows more than we do!

We recently introduced the GoughNuts dog toy to our dog, Tenor, for the first time.

Think: A 'doughnut' that dogs go nuts for.

Let me just tell you... the minute that package arrived in the mail, somehow he instinctively knew it was for him. I don't know if it was the strong smell of the rubber that was wreaking from the package itself, or what. But he kept pestering me until I took the time to open it and let him see what it was.

And he immediately loved it!

   

Our dog, Tenor, has such a thick and luscious coat of fur. (He's part Black Lab, part Great Pyrenees, but he mostly just looks like your average Labrador Retriever.)

His skin and coat weren't always in such great shape, though. In fact, a few months ago he had dry, flaky, itchy skin so bad that we thought he had an incurable skin disease!

Here's what the vet recommended. And it worked like a charm!

My friend Tonya brought her dog (Lucy) over to play with our dog (Tenor) the other day. This was their first time meeting.

And it was hilarious.

Her little pup (at one year of age) is like the Energizer Bunny. She never stops. And just when you think she went this way, you realize she went that way and now she's right behind you.

She moves so fast, it's nearly impossible to capture her in photographs!

I'm hoping at least a few of you who visit this page will take a quick second to reply in the Comments below:

"Big" (or "Little", or "Both")

and...

"Male" (or "Female", or "Both")

...in reference to your actual experiences as a dog owner.

The Question:

Have you mostly had little female dogs? Little male dogs? Big female dogs? Or big male dogs?

Or, have you had a little bit of everything, in which case "Both sizes" or "Both genders" would be the appropriate answer.

I'm simply wondering what most people's preferences are when it comes to choosing a dog and if they notice any "obvious trends" in those choices.

Cute puppies lend themselves to some really cute puppy photos.

The following funny dog pictures represent some downright serious determination on the part of our four-legged friends.

In each photograph, it's as if the dog is saying, "I'm not giving up this toy... no matter what!"

See for yourself...

I haven't read this book yet, but Pat Doyle of the Doggiewoggie Dog Blog has.

From her blog:

I found something of interest from "Breeds to Match Your Personality Type". It says that Type A humans (impatient, stressed, driven types) usually do better with Type B dogs, and Type B humans (laid-back, easygoing types) usually do better with Type A dogs. Here are the dogs listed: