Guest post: The man behind the scenes

*This is a guest post by John, sometimes referred to as “hubby” in the blog. This is John’s blogging debut! Since he’s heading to BlogPaws with me, and since I’m buried under stacks of postcards, I figured now was the perfect time for him to break into guest blogging! So, take it away, John!

Inevitably, owning dogs will cause you to realize certain things about yourself, like how you can easily grow accustomed to certain things, and how you can be continuously amazed at others.  For example, Maggie and I are completely used to the fact that each week, we will fill a 40-gallon garbage bag with dog poop.  No question, it’s going to happen.  We are never surprised that Lucas hauls butt out of the room and down the stairs whenever we (erm, Maggie) decide it’s time to vacuum the bedroom.  We also know that, invariably, Lucas will be limping/bleeding/missing some fur after a good romp with one of his friends.  We can set our clocks by Emmett’s internal dinner schedule, as he plops his butt in front of his food bowl at precisely 5:15 every day (he even adjusts to Daylight Savings).  We have accepted that fact that no matter how hard we try, Emmett will find a way to eat something he shouldn’t.

There are other unpredictable things that we’ve gotten used to, and that, had we not brought these dogs into our home, we would never have dreamed of having to deal with.  Last night when Maggie and I got home from work, Emmett got himself so worked up that he started barfing.  Everywhere.  Several years ago, had someone asked me how I felt about wiping up five piles of dog vom, I’d have politely declined.  Nowadays, it’s just something that you have to deal with.  Not too long ago, after an afternoon of playing demolition derby with Cady, the pup next door, Lucas was yet again limping.  However, it was worse than usual.  He wasn’t putting any pressure on his front leg and couldn’t make it up the stairs when it was time to go to bed.  But these things happen, so I scooped up all 75 pounds of Lucas and carried him up and down the stairs for the rest of the day whenever he wanted to go in or out.  Like I said, you get used to having to deal with all sorts of things.

It can go the other way, too.  There are some things that you can never get used to, things that never cease to make you smile/laugh/snarf some beverage out of your nose.  Prior to Emmett’s epic barfing episode, he was doing something that Maggie and I can never not smile at.  Whenever we come home, he hops out of excitement and then leans into us with one of his legs off the ground.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Lucas, upon realizing we’re home and have nothing to do for the rest of the evening except entertain him, immediately fetches the nearest toy.  Likewise, when I was toting Lucas up and down the stairs as if he were nothing more than a small puppy, he wagged his tail the entire time.  Do you know anyone who can be in excruciating pain but still be happy?

In the end, having dogs teaches everyone one critical thing, and everything else you learn about dogs and yourself stems from this one principle:  You always have to take the good with the bad.

Sounds simple and cliché, but that’s pretty much all there is to it.  You pick up some poop, wipe up some stomach contents, and clean some dried blood out of their fur every now and again.  But for me, every little wag of their tails makes all of those things worth it.