Bear

When we got our dog, Bear, about 4 years ago, Elaina was just 2 and a half yrs old. Her excitement and love for the dog was enthusiastic to say the least. She squealed, she hugged him, she kissed him on his dog lips, she followed him around. My husband and I made a bet about how long this would last. He said, "one week." I said, "this seems like it will last forever." Well we are on year 5 and Elaina's love for dogs is going stronger than ever. Bear sleeps in her bed with her, usually snuggled up like you would a teddy bear. She walks him around the house and yard with a leash on him. She loves on him, sings to him and she is the one who feeds him, and just generally likes to take care of him. But although Bear is her favorite dog, she has an amazing capacity to love ALL dogs. She loves all the cousin's dogs, she loves our neighbor's dog. Any dog she sees on the street gets a "squeal out" from Elaina. And if we are close enough, she will always ask the owner if she can pet their dog. Then she proceeds to ask the owner the dogs name and age and a zillion other questions. Yesterday Elaina was super excited to introduce me to a dog she had met the day before at her brother, Jack's, baseball game. "Mom, the dog was hit by a car!" And we proceed to go bug the lady with the 3-legged dog at the ball game. Elaina spends most of the game between that lady and another family with a tiny Yorkie. Last night Elaina and one of my sensitive sons were on a tirade about how terrible the movie was that their dad had rented for them. They relayed the story to me in exasperated tones. "Mom, you won't believe this movie dad rented!..." Apparently in the movie a dog waits for his master after work at the same spot every day, and one day the master dies while at his job, and the dog continues to wait In that same spot for like 10 years. Horribly sad. My kids were appalled. So, after that movie, and having met the 3-legged dog and hearing his sad story, Bear has been getting even MORE attention lately. Some day Bear may die of over-affection, but that's probably the best way for a dog to go : )