I love this boy..

louie's best friend- Hank

This post is for my sweet, loving, angel of a companion, Louie. I dont think I have ever done an entire post about him, which is weird, because he means the world to me!! FYI.. if you are not a dog person, this will probably bore you...

I got Louie as a gift from my mom and dad for a graduation present when I finished college. I wanted my own dog for sooo long and I knew I wanted a yorkie. My mom was worried about me getting a yorkie because they are prone to health problems, and we had heard that from a bunch of people. But... when I contacted the breeder and found Louie, we were so in love. I can remember when I called the breeder and she said that she had just had a litter (well, not her, one of her pups rather :)) and that only one of the puppies survived, and it was a boy. She immediately sent me pictures of him and I adored him right away. When I went to get him (in a land far, far away) he was just sitting there all by himself in this wooden crate thing. He had to be separated from the other dogs because they picked on him. Those damn dogs :)

Anyway, we didn't know what the next year had in store for him.. To make a long story short, Louie quickly became a very sick little guy. He had a congenital portyosystemic liver shunt. We didn't know this for the longest time and thought that it was a dozen different things. By the time we figured it out, I knew that he had to have a risky, invasive surgery in order for him to live. He was about 8 months old at that point. Dr. Derik (bless that man for putting up with me) diagnosed him and told me that he would have to have a Board Certified Surgeon do the surgery. I cant remember if there was one in AR or not.. but I researched on the internet for 2 days and found a place in Kansas City that had developed a new procedure for the condition that he had. I called there and made an appointment for that week. The day that my mom and I dropped him off there was one of the hardest days ever. (I know some of you are thinking "its just a dog", but to me, he is so much more). I believe that anything you do in life, or have, you should love it with all your heart and that is what I chose to do with Louie. So, we left him there for four days and he did well through the surgery, against the odds. Jared and I went to get him when he was released and he was the definition of pitiful. But, we nursed him back to health and here we are four years later. I don't know if it is that I went through so much with that little dog at such a weird time in life (graduating from college, friends moving, etc) that makes me love him so much, or maybe I would love him this much had that not happened. Who knows.

These days, he is the best companion. All he wants in his little life is a walk, but he wants it at 5:30 each afternoon, and no later :) He literally cries and barks at us if we are behind schedule. Then, at night, his favorite time of day, he crawls up next to his daddy and goes to sleep.

I know that one day I will have a real baby and I cant imagine the love I will have for that child. Everyone says that the pups in the house take a back seat when a baby arrives, and I am sure that will be the case one day... but not for now! I truly do love that little boy and I am thankful for all the joy he has brought to our family!

slg