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10 November 2009

Bow Wow Wow Yippee Yo Yippee Yay (Day 6)

This morning, Olivia, Magnum and I went for our daily walk and I ran into one of our neighbors across the street. The last time we saw him, he was telling us about his Bull Mastiff, Lulu, and how she wasn't doing very well. When I asked about her this morning, he told me that they had to put her down a couple weeks ago. We got into a long discussion about how pets become a huge part of your family. And for the rest of the day, I've held Magnum a little closer to me.



David and I got Magnum almost 3 years ago from my friend Jill. We fostered him for her when Hurricane Katrina hit and pretty much destroyed everything she and her husband had and she had to move back to Indiana with her parents. But, sadly when she left back for Mississippi, she took Magnum with her. When she returned to Indiana again when her husband was deployed to Kuwait, David and I gladly brought Magnum back into our homes.

Up until Olivia was born, Magnum was our baby. (He still is our baby, he's just not the number one baby!)


He's traveled just about everywhere with us, has a bed in every room, and spends most nights in bed with us. While he's pretty low-maintenence, we have had our fair share of vet visits - two leg breaks, a few pulled teeth, and a couple of burns on his side, but he is worth every penny!  Even though he is extremely bony, he is a total cuddlebug.  He radiates heat which is perfect for those chilly nights.  I know he doesn't particulary enjoy being bumped from the number one position, but he does a pretty good job of letting Olivia torture him.  Most people don't know that Magnum went in to my classroom with me and basically changed the life of one of my biggest trouble-makers. I had a student who constantly picked fights with other kids, refused to do any work, and would just sit and talk aloud in an attempt to disrupt the entire class.  When Magnum was in the room, however, that same student participated, helped others, and became a true pleasure to be around.   And, if that's not enough to make you all jealous of our fabulous dog (soooo not the intention of this thankful blog), what other dog would let us parade him around in random costumes??





So, today, I'm thankful that my dear friend Jill let us take a dog as special as Magnum from her and make him a part of our family.

3 comments:

Mom Cooper said...

I remember the first time you brought Magnum to our house. I thought he was the ugliest dog I had ever seen. (Sorry Magnum). BUT the more I was around him the cuter he got and yes I too fell in love with his little bony self. I am a little bit jealous tho of the fact he has more outfits than I do!!!

Jillian said...

Oh Magnum. I remember the day I picked him up from his foster home at the IG rescue. He had a wounded leg and would need surgery not much longer after that.
He was a snuggler from the get go and the boniness only reminded me of my Husband ;)
I can still distinctly hear his ears flapping intermittently in the night and his piercing bark at anything he didn't like.

Sometimes I really miss him....but just like Jack Johnson, I know he's gone to a better place :)

Thanks for taking such good care of him and loving him so much.

Lauren said...

You and Dave have given Magnum such a great (and spoiled!) life and I'm sure he knows how lucky he is to have parents like you! I mean, honestly, who else has STAMPS and address labels with their pooch on them? Not even us- and we're pretty obsessed with our fur baby as well!

There was a picture you posted of Livi reaching up to touch Mags from the stroller and it was just so cute. They will be best buddies.