Happy 5th Birthday, Denver! (Or 35th in dog years!)

Micah's been getting all the attention lately, but since Denver just turned 5 I think he needs a little love on the blog...

We got Denver on May 7, 2006.  Our 4 month anniversary....

... I use the term "we" loosely.

I had been begging Eli for a dog for exactly 3 months and 29 days (or something like that), but we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets.  Still, we were planning on moving soon, so I had been looking online at petfinder.com about 200 times a day.  One Saturday, we were at Petsmart to get crickets for our frog, Gizmo, (he will have to get his own blog post soon!), and it just happened to be an adoption weekend.  Well, as we looked at all the animals, we really felt sorry for this extremely skittish German Shepherd mix (and I mean really mixed).  We walked around with him for a while and attempted to play with him, but he never really warmed up to us.  Still, we thought that maybe we could rehabilitate him, but we decided to go home and think about it.  And after thinking about it, we thought we'd give him a chance...

The next day (Sunday), Eli had to work, but he did give me permission to go back to Petsmart to get that one dog.  Well, I got there and couldn't find him, so I asked for him, and they told me he had gotten so anxious that he jumped off the truck and broke his leg, and was therefore no longer available for adoption.  I was sad, but probably also a little relieved that we didn't have him when he did something like that!

And then I saw this droopy-eared little pup with a runny nose and big paws... and I fell in love.  I picked him up, and didn't put him back down.  I wrote the adoption fee check with one hand.  He had no idea what to do on a leash, so I put him in the cart to take him around Petsmart to buy food, a crate, and a bed.  I forgot to call or text Eli.  

Later that evening, Eli walked in.  And saw a dog crate box.  And then saw a dog crate.  And then saw me.  With a guilty face.  And I said, "run to Daddy."  And he did.  Eli was only upset for 1.5 milliseconds.



Oh, and I forgot to tell you about how the adoption people told me he was a lab/beagle mix and would be 50 lbs. max...  and how now he is 85 lbs... and we affectionately call him our "average dane."

Or Marmadenver.  LOL.