Your kiss for the day

You can see why I *sometimes* get distracted when I'm working from home, with a face like this by my lap.

Somewhere along the way I've become a "dog person." We had a fairly unfriendly cat growing up, but for a while I thought I was a "cat person." But there's just something about dogs- their unique personalities, their loyalty, their excitement when you come home. While I still don't want to be licked, and I still can't stand slobber, or crazy shedding furriness (ok, maybe I'm just a "Vizsla person"), I love everything about Captain- even, yes, how he smells. You know, that dog smell. Recently we had a friend over (a self-proclaimed cat person), and when he commented "How do people stand it? Dogs smell!" I couldn't help but think to myself... I like the way he smells. I don't mean dirty wet dog smell; but it reminds me of growing up, when I used to spend days by the lake, wrapped in a towel with our family friend's black lab Rosie; or on the Cape with my grandfather's black lab Molly, who always pushed herself between my legs so I'd scratch her butt, even when I was too little for my toes to touch the ground when she tried to go through; or with our neighbor's Irish Setter Kerry, who would without fail come running over to our back deck to whine for food every summer night we ate outside. When they say dogs are man's best friend, they aren't kidding; these dogs bring back such strong, happy memories for me. Despite their shorter lifespan (I can't think about that!), dogs make such impacts on our lives. Captain is so much more than a pet for us, and while they say ("they" say a lot ;-) )  not to anthropomorphize your dog, I can't help but think of him as my first baby. Well, that's your sentimentalism for the day...Now go hug your dog ;-)

And ps- we give Captain a bath about every 2 weeks, so if anyone's thinking I've got a dirty, smelly dog, I don't ;-)