My first born

And no, I am not speaking of my first born human child, Jessa. No.
I am referring to Dunken Emmit Key. He was a wedding gift to David and me from my parents. We searched forever to find the perfect dog for us. We decided on a Westie. The first puppy that we picked out had a congenital disorder that did not develop until he was weaned. So, bless his heart, we only had him a few days. But then Dunken came into our lives. He was chosen because after the sick puppy, Momma told me that puppies are supposed to play with your shoelaces. And when the lady let Dunken out of the cage, he ran over to my feet and started playing with my laces. So in a way, he picked us.

We wanted a cool Scottish name to go with our cool terrier from the Scottish Isles. We were stumped. But when I put him down in the backyard at Momma's house, he walked right over and fell into her pool. After I fished him out, he got a Scottish name with a creative spelling to reflect the fact that he "dunked" himself. So in a way, he chose his own name.

He was so tiny and precious and bad. Seriously, he would empty trash cans and chew up the trash if we left him home alone for too long. He chewed holes through baby gates to break free. He cried on the floor until we put him in the bed with us. And he had two speeds: Off and On. And when he was on, buddy, was he on! He was never still, never quiet, well, unless he was asleep aka off.

He has lived everywhere we have lived. He has moved with us every time we have moved.

Ft. Eustis, Momma's house, Bamberg, Germany, Mannheim, Germany, Momma's house, Ft. Lee, Ft. Stewart, Ft. Polk, Ft. Stewart, and now our first AFB, Scott.

He has lived near snow,

near the beach,

and near lakes.

He has traveled all over Europe. He was a passenger on the ICE train to Berlin. He has been to the Eiffel Tower. He has eaten well at restaurants: Cordon Bleu, yes, for a dog. He has been swimming in the English Channel and the Rhine River, among others.

He even cruised the Rhine a few times.

He has climbed to the top of Neuschwanstein Castle

and been to the Hofbrauhaus in Munich and ridden to the tops of mountains in France.

He has flown over the Atlantic 12 times, in the cabin at my feet.

He has ridden countless hours in the car,

my constant companion,

my trusty co-pilot.

He has helped me make new friends when we move because I would run into people when I was out taking him for a walk. He has lived in apartments and duplexes and houses and even out of suitcases in hotels.

He has accepted any and every new family member that we have gained since he joined our family. We have introduced 2 cats,

another dog,

and not 1

but 2 children to our family.

He never missed a beat. He has loved them all as much as we do. He has accepted Momma's Cooper and Daddy's Abby without a second thought. His heart is big and full.

He has never met a stranger. He firmly believes that every person who enters our home or yard has come just to see him. Yet, he barks at anything and everything out the window.

He is terrified of thunder.

He is allergic to everything, and I spent 8 weeks cooking a special fish diet for him completely from scratch. And I cannot even stand to smell fish, much less cook it!

He loves warm clothes, fresh from the dryer

and sleeping under the covers so he can lick your toes.

And we always arrange the furniture in every house so that he has something to climb up on to see out the window - the worst idea we had was placing our bed under the window in a stairwell apartment overlooking the parking lot! Many nights we woke up to him standing on our faces to see out the window.

He has a stocking at Christmas and a basket at Easter.

We once threw him a birthday party and actually invited "dog friends" over to have homemade doggie biscuits and cupcakes.

He will steal your warm spot in the bed

or your chair if you get up.

"Shuffle your feet, lose your seat."

These are words he lives by.

He takes this being a terrier thing very seriously,

and he loves to dig

and dig

and dig.

He likes to take care of himself. Every night, before bed, he performs "paw maintenance." He licks his paws until they are drenched.

If you shout "SQUIRREL," he will run outside at full speed. If you do not open the door fast enough, he will run into the door.

His favorite phrase is, "Dunken, do you want to ride?"

He has helped me take and pick-up kids from schools in 3 states.

He is the sweetest and most precious dog you will ever meet;

we love him with every fiber of our beings.

And this week, he was diagnosed with cancer. It is hard for me to even think about it, much less accept it. We have seen a specialist and for now, we have started chemotherapy. I know lots of people think that it is ridiculous to spend the time and more importantly the money on treatments for a "dog." But to us, Dunken is oh so much more than that. He is a founding member of this family. At the moment, he is absolutely happy and acting like himself. As long as he is barking at the garbage truck and begging for daily, oops, I mean hourly treats, we will continue to see the specialist. Thankfully I have parents and grandparents who also feel that Dunken is 100% a family member and who are more than willing to help with the financial part of his treatment. I have cried many tears this week, and my Dunken has let me hold him. And he has licked my salty tears off my cheeks like he has done so many other times throughout our lives together. He really is so much more than a "dog."

He's our Dunken

Furry Friday - March 19

My Dunken.

Dunken has been our baby since we were first married. He was born a week before our marriage. He has been with us everywhere we have been. He has been all over Europe.

I have posted before that he gets up early with me every morning and "helps" me get the kids off to school. And he usually rides with me to take and pick up Spencer at his school.

Lately, though, he has become much more determied to go with me everywhere I go. I can tell you this because he tries to get in the car all the time. Several times a day. He is always trying to sneak into the garage. (And yes, much to David's dismay, the kids' van doors are almost always open.) I will realize I have not seen him in a while, and I will go looking for him. He is ALWAYS in the car. Bless him.

He wants to go with me everywhere. He has to sit in the car while I run errands, but he does not seem to mind. He just wants to go. I think he thinks I need him. I guess I do!

And he is not taking any chances that I might leave without him.

He is my right hand man.

I use a clothes basket to take supplies to Awana each week - he does love laundry baskets. . .

My buddy.

My helper.

He is so precious!

He takes such good care of us!

NEW FEATURE: FURRY FRIDAY

I have never gotten into the whole Wordless Wednesday Thing that lots of bloggers do. You are supposed to just post a photo and that's it. I can't do it. I have too many words. I am never wordless. AND almost all my posts have photos anyway, so I have never jumped into that. And lots of people have their own little ideas for special days of the week and special topics. So this is my new idea. (In the event that it is discovered that this was not my original idea, sorry. I have never heard of it, so for now, I am saying it is all mine, sound OK??)

So now every Friday I will feature a Furry Baby. Maybe it will be pictures. Maybe it will be a story. Maybe it will be both. Maybe it will be one of my furry babies (OK, mostly it will be mine. . .), or maybe it will be someone else's. Sound good?? AND I would love it if any of you who also have precious furry babies and a blog to hop on board with this idea. I think it will be fun to have at least one post every week dedicated to our sweet four-legged children. Ya with me??

Without further ado:

My first Furry Friday Feature will be

DUNKEN

(David accused me of playing favorites. But Dunken is our first born child. Alphabetically, he is first. AND he happened to do something this week that I wanted to blog about. And that thing is what gave me this idea, so I think it is only fair.)

Ever since he was a puppy, Dunken has been such a good helper. When we were in Germany for 4 years, we had to use a laundry room in the basement of our buildings. One time, we were on the 3rd floor and one time we were on the 2nd floor. Both cases, there were a lot of stairs involved with keeping us smelling fresh and clean. And my sweet Dunken, who was 6 months old when we moved to Germany, walked with me every step of the way. He went with me to start the washer, start the dryer, and bring them upstairs. This is where he discovered that he liked warm clothes, fresh from the dryer. So most days, I would have to carry a clothes basket full of clothes AND a Westie up all those stairs.

Dunken, in Bamberg, the beginning of a tradition! I still have that clothes basket. . .

Sometimes, David helped me. I have the most precious picture I took of the two of them coming up the stairs in Germany, but I cannot find it. Rats! It was before digital, so I have a hard copy and a negative somewhere. If I ever find it, I will post it. Priceless, it is.

In Mannheim, sometimes I had to fold most of the clothes and leave him asleep until later. Same basket, weird, huh?

The funny thing about it was that even in the hot summer with no A/C when we were sweating to death, that silly dog would crawl in the basket of warm clothes and pant his head off! It was just sort of a habit. Sort of his thing. Sometimes he would race me to the top of the stairs and then get in the basket, but almost every basket of clothes I have ever washed ended up with a sweet Dunken snuggling in the warmth.

This is in Hinesville - same sweet puppy, same basket.

Even today, he still gets excited to "help" me with the warm, clean clothes.

This week, in the laundry room at Scott. I still have the other basket, I just have 2 now!

Sweet, silly Dunken!

Dunken vs. Max

No, I did not have some sort of snack down where I pitted my baby dogs against each other. I was just thinking if the many differences between my two Westies. Of course, the 2 of them have had very different lives. Dunken has been our baby since we first got him when he was 10 weeks old. He has traveled all over the world. He has eaten in fine restaurants across Europe. And Dunken feels a huge sense of responsibility to take care of us. He protects us from enemies like garbage trucks or passers by or other dogs or the worst of them all, squirrels. We have often laughed at his inability to let go of his role of protector.

Max, of course had a very different life. Many times I want to know what his life was like because I think that it may help me understand some of his little quirks. Other times, I am so happy that I do not know because it would make me too sad. Even today, with us, Max has a different life. We try to make him be a dog, like Dunken. But he is just not interested in chasing things or being a watch dog or even walking around too much. Bless his heart, he is the sweetest, poorest excuse for something useful I have ever seen!

I wanted to share one of the clearest examples of the huge differences in our boys.

Ever since school started, I have been getting up really early to get Jessa's lunch made and both kiddos up and out the door. I always try to be quiet to let the dogs sleep in. Well, Dunken wants none of that. If he doesn't get up with me, I hear a gentle scratch at our bedroom door. He comes down and alerts me to every child who walks to the bus stop. He also lets me know about the arrival of the earlier buses. And if any morning jogger were thinking of sneaking up on me, they can think again.


Then when it is time for Jessa to go to the bus stop, I put him on the leash, and he heads out to the porch with me. He takes this very seriously. He watches all the kids walking, he notices the parents, and then he of course keeps a close eye out for the bus.

On mornings when Spencer has school, Dunken rides with me to take him. He always took them to school with me in Louisiana. I even left the car running if it was hot. . . He is so precious and feels so responsible for us.


And then there is Max. Want to know what Maxie does while Dunken is supervising Jessa getting ready for school and getting on the bus? Or what he is doing while Dunken and I are driving Spencer to school? Want to know what Max would do all the time if I would let him? Want to know what he does every day until I MAKE him go outside at like 11??


This:

We love both of our Westie boys, but they definitely fill different roles in our family.

Dunken: the protector, the guard, the watchman, the sentry

Max: the sweet precious lump of cuteness