House of Hydrangeas

Our sweet little Remington turns two today!  It's so hard to believe since we've only had him for 10 months.  I can still remember the first day we went to go see him at the shelter.  I had seen his picture online and told Jon I wanted to check him out.  Without hesitation he said "Okay, we can head over there on my lunch break."   This is a picture I took of him the first day we met him at the shelter. Remi, named Paco at the time, wasn't what I had expected.  He paid us little attention when we joined him in his yard at the shelter.  He gave us a look over and walked away.  The dog in the fence next to him was full of energy and spunk, but Remi just looked sad.  I didn't know what to make of him.  They told us he had a previous owner who had given him up and that he'd been at the shelter now for 5 months.  Now I felt I understood his demeanor.  He probably thought we were like all of the others who had come to look at him, ...

I have to take a minute and brag about Remington's latest accomplishments.  This week (in the span of about three days) he learned how to lie down on command.  We had already taught him to sit, but it took a lot longer for him to master, so we were shocked when he nailed his new trick so quickly.  And today, he got into the bathtub all by himself!  This might not sound like a big deal to some, but Remi has always HATED baths.  So much so, that he goes and hides in his cage anytime he hears the shower turn on.  Normally, we have to pick him up and carry him into the bathroom to place him in the tub.  But today, with a little coaxing, he got in all by himself.  He still didn't look too happy about it, but hey, we're making progress! It's amazing how the tiniest things can make me so happy.  If I get this excited about what my dog can do, I can only imagine how you parents must feel about your kids! Whether it's your kids or animals that make ...

Today is a sad day for our family.  My mom woke up this morning to find that one of our dachshunds, Jackson "Jack Jack", had passed away unexpectedly in his sleep.  He was just shy of 5.5 years old and was one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet.  In fact, he was so sweet that he was called Precious more often than he was called Jackson.  We always told him he was "the sweetest one" of the bunch, and he was.  All he ever wanted to do was snuggle.  He'd climb into your lap and lay his head down on your chest just like a baby because he loved being close to you.  He always took care of his brothers, Barney and Parker, making sure that their ears and faces were always clean.  He had the appetite of a dog 4 times his little size and always tried to keep us with his brothers even though he was always a few steps behind.  He was a precious soul. To us, our dogs are family.  So to lose one of them is so incredibly hard.   Jackson (o...