Dog Moms are People Too

Motherhood teaches you a lot of things, I think. Right now the people who think dog moms aren't real moms are probably rolling their eyes, but I don't mind too much. All I know is that there is a tiny, relatively helpless being who counts on me for his health and happiness, and I feel an intense responsibility to meet those needs tenfold. Motherhood - the desire to nurture, extreme concern for another's well being, a sense of obligation that you welcome. Feeding and holding and staying awake at night if it becomes necessary. Or even if it doesn't.

Dogs Driving for Your Weekend

You absolutely must start your weekend with this. It's given Herb so many ideas.

Rescue dogs driving cars.

From Herbie (and me) to you, have a wonderful weekend!

xo,
Lauren

Other posts:

5th Graders: Highlight of my week

The Day I Met My Match

What is Marriage: Texting Started it All

Worrying

The Day I Met My Match

Herbie's first days at home

My dog is a mini me. I don't know if I knew that the second I saw him or if it happened later, but I think it was the first. After visiting every shelter in Baltimore County in August 2009, it seemed impossible to find a dog that was an acceptable size for my tiny apartment. That apartment was amazing, by the way, on the corner with a view, and incredibly peaceful. At the shelters, there were so many boxers and pitbulls. Some of them broke my heart, but they wouldn't have had the room they needed with me, plus let's just face it, I wanted a living, breathing stuffed animal. One day I was visiting the Balt City SPCA for the 10th time, and there was a new dog, a small one: mangled, terrified little Herbie with huge eyes and a teddy bear face. Love at first sight. Really. We looked at each other and knew. There was an understanding. He said I think you could love me and I said yes I could. He had literally just arrived, been given up by his owner, and he was windswept and disoriented to prove it.

A Cute Dog with a Birthday

It's hard to believe, but this week is Herbie's 4th birthday. My dog-child is growing up. Plus, he's been with me for three whole years now! As a four year old, he is still obsessed with holding hands, bully sticks, and outsmarting the mean black cat who lives next door.

I've said this before, but Herbie is a rescue who is scared of everything. I'll never forget the time early on when he jumped about five feet upon encountering a Dandelion. He had been kept in an outdoor closet and never introduced to anything. Herb still has a hard time with other dogs, but he wants desperately to be their friend. He watches our neighbor Scooter out the window like he is searching for a long-lost brother.

In honor of Herbie's birthday and other dogs who need our help, check out Woofstock next weekend from the Greenville Humane Society; once you buy a ticket, you get unlimited beer samples from local breweries! Herbie's a little too high-strung to go along, but it would be really fun to take a dog. :)

This steals my heart.

I'm so in love with these portraits from illustrator Itsuko Suzuki. They make me want to go rescue all the dogs I can get my hands on and make sure they have lots of hugs.

xo, LM.