Our three kids are all grown,my two boys starting their own lives and my daughter lives at home. We adopted an American Standard/German fawn Boxer puppy.We named her Mercedes. She is now 20 months old.
Prior to Mercedes, we had Lady, a Sheltie/Collie cross. She was a beautiful, loving soul who is still dearly missed. But she lived a long and happy life (almost 20 years) and we were blessed having her in our family.
After Lady passed, my wife and daughter began talking about getting another dog. Well, actually they basically told me they were going to do it with or without my input. I was strongly against the idea. It was about six months after lady's passing when I "agreed" to at least take a look a the 11 puppy litter my daughter had found locally on the internet.
Long story short, we picked one from the litter and brought it home that night. My daughter named her Mercedes because she has always loved the Mercedes cars and she has always wanted a boxer.
Again, long story short, we all absolutely love Mercedes, (we could do without the flatulance) and she and I have become best friends.
Having raised three kids, I can say, that my wife and I are as in love with her as we are with our human children. I take her everywhere with me (except where I work) and I truly enjoy her company. I love her sense of humor and her energy. I love her curiosity, the way she has to have a better look at any repair work I am doing at home. It's like she's asking "hey dad, what are you doing, that looks really interesting". We have never spanked or yelled at her since we brought her home. A stern "No" is the only negative feedback we have given her (as with all of our canine family members). She obeys about 90 percent of the commands we give her, and ignores the rest when she is just to busy to listen.
We miss her when we are at work and its always a happy reunion when we come home.
All of our family pets were special and loved dearly, and Mercedes is no exception.
I think the difference with Mercedes is, with our children grown, we are able to spend more time building a relationship with her. In my opinion, when we removed her from her parents and siblings we became her adoptive family. She is our newly adopted child and we would not give her up for the world.
Prior to Mercedes, we had Lady, a Sheltie/Collie cross. She was a beautiful, loving soul who is still dearly missed. But she lived a long and happy life (almost 20 years) and we were blessed having her in our family.
After Lady passed, my wife and daughter began talking about getting another dog. Well, actually they basically told me they were going to do it with or without my input. I was strongly against the idea. It was about six months after lady's passing when I "agreed" to at least take a look a the 11 puppy litter my daughter had found locally on the internet.
Long story short, we picked one from the litter and brought it home that night. My daughter named her Mercedes because she has always loved the Mercedes cars and she has always wanted a boxer.
Again, long story short, we all absolutely love Mercedes, (we could do without the flatulance) and she and I have become best friends.
Having raised three kids, I can say, that my wife and I are as in love with her as we are with our human children. I take her everywhere with me (except where I work) and I truly enjoy her company. I love her sense of humor and her energy. I love her curiosity, the way she has to have a better look at any repair work I am doing at home. It's like she's asking "hey dad, what are you doing, that looks really interesting". We have never spanked or yelled at her since we brought her home. A stern "No" is the only negative feedback we have given her (as with all of our canine family members). She obeys about 90 percent of the commands we give her, and ignores the rest when she is just to busy to listen.
We miss her when we are at work and its always a happy reunion when we come home.
All of our family pets were special and loved dearly, and Mercedes is no exception.
I think the difference with Mercedes is, with our children grown, we are able to spend more time building a relationship with her. In my opinion, when we removed her from her parents and siblings we became her adoptive family. She is our newly adopted child and we would not give her up for the world.
