Bridger Grows Up

This is my huge, 115 pound German Shepherd, who stuffed himself into this chair the other night. Kevin and I were at our desks in the schoolroom. (It's now actually an office, but after home-schooling for 21 years, it's hard to break the habit...) We were both online on separate computers - you know, 'togetherness time.' I was trying to learn something about this new blogging venture and he was reading The Drudge Report and World Net Daily, when we heard such an odd noise.

Getting up and running to the other end of the schoolroom, we found Bridger scratching at the big blue chair just before making a great leap and squeezing onto the seat. The blue chair is big, but definitely not a German-Shepherd-sized chair! What was he thinking?!

And although it looked cute, I knew that something was wrong. Whenever he doesn't feel well, Bridger climbs into some den-ish place - the reading nook, onto the loveseat, or, I guess, the blue chair. I bet it was the little bit of sausage I gave him at suppertime. Hmmm. Not a good idea.

Bridger is what I've always called, 'My Twenty-five Dollar Dog.' I actually did purchase him for only $25 - nine years ago, but if you took a look at my very thick expense file, you'd see that the title, 'My Twenty-five Dollar Dog' no longer applies - at ALL.

Here's my Bridger puppy at 10 weeks. He is the one on the right, the one who ran up to the fence to check me out at first. To anyone who knows anything about dogs, that would have been a huge clue. All I saw was the cutest pup ever and I wanted to take him home. To say that I was woefully ignorant of the ways of dogs at that time is an understatement.

Because we had to be gone for the next two weeks, Bridger was twelve weeks old when we were able to pick him up and take him home. He was trembling uncontrollably as I held him on my lap, and I felt so sorry for him...another big mistake.

My puppy and I had no trouble bonding, for I slept with him on the kitchen floor for the first week...yet another mistake. But I guess the only real problem I had with my puppy was trying to convince him that I was the pack leader. No. Let me restate that another, more accurate, way. The only problem was trying to convince myself that I was the pack leader! Puppies are completely energized and have very sharp teeth.

Here you can see Bridger trying to get at my granddaughter's rat who was in a cage on top of the piano. I think if Dänika hadn't been there, Bridger would have had no trouble getting Ratty right where he wanted her.

Bridger and I have had nine wonderful, trying, and fun years together. My experiences with training (first me and then him!) led me to write a kids' book about responsible pet ownership, Second Chance - A Tale of Two Puppies.

Anyone who is thinking of getting a puppy needs to read that book first!

Lest my dear friend scold me for not mentioning Misty, our other sweet and loyal dog in this post, Misty's already had a post devoted to her. :-)

Do you have a dog? If so, I'd love to hear about him or her. Dogs are such amazing companions! I have two of them at my feet, even as I write. Good boy, Bridger! Good girl, Misty!