Brother Jack

I'm a dog person. Some people are cat people, some are both, but I'm strictly a dog person. I love dogs. I've always loved dogs and this love began with my very first dog, Jamie Allen, a poodle my parents had before I was born. Thankfully, Brian is a dog person as well, and before we became parents, we truly considered ourselves to be "parents" to two furry kids. We even referred to them as "grand-dogs" to our parents who were eagerly awaiting grandchildren. When Avery came home and we became actual parents, we immediately began calling our two furry kids Avery's brothers. Although many dog owners told us that our love for our dog children would likely change when we became "real" parents, we didn't believe them. I even got irritated on occasion when someone suggested that I just might love my human child even more than the furry ones. (What can I say... I was clueless).

Well, let me tell you.... "those people", the ones who irritated me, were absolutely 100% correct!! Although I still love my dogs, they most assuredly became 2nd class citizens once our sweet girl arrived. Thank goodness for Brian, because those poor guys get very little affection from their Mommy these days. My affection has been stolen by a blue-eyed blondie who very rarely drools after she drinks, whose bodily functions are contained to a diaper, who smells like Johnson & Johnson's, who doesn't shed and who is thankfully hypo-allergenic.

Clearly, my "favorite" child is Avery, but Avery's "favorite" person in our home(there I go again, calling them people) is Jackson... aka Jackie (Avery's name for him). That girl loves her basset hound brother! When he's not around she asks about him. When we pass the turn-in to our neighborhood she shrieks, "I want to see Jackie!" At home she talks to him, she plays with him, she offers him snacks, she asks him to play, she hugs him, she tries to ride him, she chases him, she lays on him... all with very little protest from Jack. Jack is a dog. Jack is often smelly and has a slight drool problem. His shedding is beyond annoying and on rare occasion he loses it on the tile, but Jack is a good brother. He's gentle and sweet and I think he loves his sister.

So today, I thought I would pay tribute to our basset hound, Jackson Stubblefield. He has been the subject of many photo shoots lately and it turns out that not only is he a good big brother, but he is a fabulous model! He really knows how to work the camera!