PWD Makeover

This was Hooee when we were at Capitol Reef.

This is Hooee now.

I wish I could get a haircut and look like I "lost" 20 pounds.

Thankfully, Hooee is outgrowing the puppy stage.

He LOVES to run through the sprinklers.

I can't believe I'm saying this...

but I really miss this fuzzy, spoiled, mass of black curly hair.

I just had to blog about this so that the next time he chews up one of my flip flops or drools all over my clean pants, I will remember that he is the one who listens to me when I'm talking to myself and doesn't ever talk back. He gives good snuggles at the right times. And he sleeps all night long, in his own bed without slipping his cold toes next to mine and keeping me awake all night.

He's so funny when he sees one of us get out one of those rawhides for him to chew on. He sits, shakes, rolls over, and goes through every trick he's ever learned about 5 times without ever being told because he thinks he has to do all of his tricks to get his reward. It's so funny.

Let it be known...

We had our dog first.

I didn't vote for Obama, but I like him a little more today than I did yesterday.  The first family has adopted a Portuguese Water Dog for their family pet.  The chose a PWD because of their medium size and good nature.  They are also hypoallergenic.  Senator Ted Kennedy was influential in their decision--he owns two PWD's himself.  

They might name the dog Frank.  Real original.  I prefer Hooee.  Here is where that name comes from...Summer went to Head Start in Michigan.  We had to meet with her teacher about half way through the year.  She said that Summer was a great student and was a very creative story teller.  She was constantly telling stories about her dog named Hooee.  Rick and I looked at each other and laughed.  We looked back at the teacher and explained to her that we didn't have a dog.  At least not a real dog.  Our family has had an imaginary dog named Hooee for about 7 years.  I just seemed natural that when we finally got a dog his name had to be Hooee.

Pronounced...  Who-E.   

Read more here about the First Dog  

The rumors are true...

we have a dog.  I always had a dog growing up and so did Rick.  But, we have never lived in a place where we could have a dog through all of our years of medical school and renting, etc.  Plus, everyone always says how hard it is to have a dog--like having another child.  So for years I have just kept telling the kids we'd get a dog when we owned a house or when we got a fence.  Now we have both and i was out of excuses.  So, here he is.  His name is Hooee.

I know that is a weird name, but when we lived in Kirksville Summer wanted a dog and of course we told her NO.  So, she made up an imaginary pet dog.  She didn't say much about it after a  while, but the next year she went to school and told everyone that she had a dog.  When we went in to talk to the teacher at conference time, the teacher asked us about our dog and what kind it was.  We told her that we didn't have a dog.  She said that Summer always talked about her dog named Hooee.  So, we always said that if we got a dog it would be named Hooee.  

Hooee is a Portuguese Water Dog.  He will get to be about 50 lbs.  His hair will be wavy/curly and he won't shed.  He has a little white patch on his chest and one of his paws is white.  His toes are webbed and his tail is really thick and was once used like a rudder in the water.  These dogs were almost extinct in the 1970's.  Someone in Britain found out about them and started breeding them.  They sent one to New York and now they are making a comeback.  They were used along the coast of Portugal to help herd fish into the nets of the seamen.  They would also relay messages back and forth between the fishing ships.  One of the other dogs in the litter is going to Florida to be a Therapy Dog.  PWD are used a lot in research including the University of Utah.