Why we love Rudy.........

I know some of you are really wondering about the title of this blog, I must begin with the fact that Josh and I just returned from seeing Marley and Me tonight on our monthly date night. So I am on this cheesy, love my dog kick at the moment. Rudy can be a very obnoxious dog, but really what dog is not at at times? Rudy does have several other qualities that make up the many reasons why we love him.....

- Every morning he greets us with lots of licking, which equals love.
- No matter how many times he is spanked, he still wants to lick us.
- He has always been loving to Lilly. She will even kick or hit him and he turns back to her with a lick.
- She has gotten into that stage where she actually enjoys playing with Rudy and will laugh and squeal in delight when he plays back with her. Just last night she was chasing him around the room just laughing the entire time.
- At the end of the day he loves to snuggle up beside me on the couch.
- He gives me an excuse to go on walks. Now that we have actually had some warmer weather, we are trying to get back into our walking routine.
- When Josh gets home from work he is the first one to run to the door and greet him.
- He becomes overly protective of me and Lilly when Josh is not around.
- Whenever we drop food on the floor he cleans it up. This is great when lots of kids have been over to the house.
- He loves everyone who comes to the house.
- And just look at his picture, how can you not smile at his face.

I will have to re-read this list again, especially when he has taken one of Lilly's toys and tried to chew it up again. When Jennifer Anniston was running around the house chasing Marley for chewing up the curtain swatch book, I had a moment where I looked at Josh and said that reminds me of myself. But really, Rudy was our first baby. We got him in August 2005. He was my birthday present that year. Josh flew to Birmingham, AL to pick up our precious puppy and brought him home to me in the wee hours of the morning. Those first few weeks he was just like a baby - it was really hard leaving him home all day to go to work. Now almost four years later, there are times I think why did we get this dog. But deep down there is a special love for our black and white fur ball that will always be there.

I had to include a past puppy picture and here is one of the latest Rudy and Lilly pictures. She was taking a bath the other morning while I was getting ready and I glance over and she is holding up her washcloth and Rudy is licking away. She thought this was the funniest thing to drip her bath water for him to lick. I just couldn't pass up this moment - I had to get the camera.