3rd Annual 30 Day Photo Challenge ~ Day 4 ~ Pet

This dog. Jake.

He has tennis balls stashed all over the house and two in his water bowl...but he'll only chase the one he asks you to throw.

I went to the store 11 years ago to get dog food for our beagle. I came home with him.

He was about 8 months old and had clearly been abused. He was skittish and scared, but he seemed to trust me. All it took was one look with those eyes, and I was on the phone telling my husband we had another dog.

He's allergic to everything, he has anxiety issues and he has the dog version of ADHD. Clearly he fits in around here. He was meant to live with us.

He's an old man these days. He moves a little slower, he sleeps a little more. Every once in a while, I'll even go lay a hand on his chest to make sure he's still breathing. (which, by the way, is how you know your dog is really old)

For most of his life, he played second fiddle to the beagle, but when we lost her two years ago, he assumed the position well. He cried with me that first day. He seemed to know what was happening. He calmed down immediately and went from being the hyperactive second dog to the one that sits obediently on the porch. He realized it was his job to protect us now, and he does. We are his people. He can't handle it when we aren't all in the same place. If some are upstairs and downstairs, he paces and settles on the landing of the stairs, halfway between.

He jumps in the car for morning dropoff at school and whines when they get out of the car. He sits and waits for his kids to get home from school in the afternoon.

He'll still beg you to throw that tennis ball, and he'll chase it far longer than he should. Then the next day, he'll get up, wait for me to go downstairs, and we'll pop and creak all the way down together.

Though few have seen it, he talks. I've tried for months now to get it on video. Every time we come home from somewhere, he gets up and stretches, then says "hi". I promise I'm not making it up.

He's a good boy.

Oh yes, he is.