A Man's Best Friend!

For some a man's best friend his childhood pal or even his best college buddy. In our household it is a 6 pound on a bad day 7 pound Yorkie-Poo. Yes, he is one "big" ball of energy. Many might ask how can something so small be A.) so much work and B.) such a joy to have around the house? Well, let me try to explain... It might take many posts to truly understand all of the TROUBLE I mean joy this little guys brings to our lives...

It was roughly a year and half ago when my firefighter (just my boyfriend at the time) and I went looking at 7 adorable Yorkie-Poo puppies. It was just a spur of the moment sort of thing. We never planned on placing a deposit on a puppy that evening. Before we knew it we were sitting in a room with 7 of the tiniest puppies you have ever seen running around us. My heart was set on the smallest of the bunch. A sweet little girl. She was marked differently then the rest of the puppies. She looked like she would have a much lighter face then the rest of the crew. She was running around and would come when you called her. She was just adorable. My firefighter on the other hand was dead set on having a boy if we were to get any puppies at all. Being that he came from an all BOY house. His mother raised 3 boys all within 4 years of each other. Along with the 4 boys they had raised 3 different BOY poodle dogs over the years. After the loss of their latest dog SPARKY, who the boys still talk about! ( I refer to them as boys like they are not 3 grown men by now) my firefighter always seemed to want another buddy. Well, his wish was coming true. I utilized my strong sells skills I have obtained over 6 years in the outside sales industry. It really wasn't that hard of a sell as I could see he was becoming attached to this very loyal little boy that was sitting to calmly at his feet (I emphasize calmly as I am certain that he was pulling a fast one on us, as this was the last time this Yorkie-Poo was ever calm). No matter when my firefighter moved in the room this little boy followed him... It looked as though no matter which puppy I had my heart set on that this little guy had his heart set on my firefighter. We went back and forth with each other saying... Should we?! This is a BIG commitment. Not only in our relationship, but in our everyday lives. We did not live together and had no plan to prior to being married. Who would keep this little guy everyday? Who would be the one training him? We both new I would be keeping him and I would be the one with him everyday. Me being the softy I am this could be a HUGE problem when it came to training... We decided to take a giant leap and place an 100 dollar deposit on the loyal little buddy that kept sitting at my firefighter's feet.

It would be almost 2 weeks before the little guy was ready to come home. It was Friday evening and we were sitting in traffic to pick up our little puppy! He was just so sweet laying in my lap the whole way home. The precious little teddy bear face. How could he ever cause any trouble?! Well, boy was I wrong... Over the next few months this little face got into all kinds of trouble!!

Duke.. 6 Weeks Old! He is about as big as my hand :)

We went round and round about what his name should be... I was set on Maverick! Don't ask me why... It just seemed cute. My firefighter was set on a much shorter and rather funny name being that he was going to be SO small. As you can see... He was officially named Duke on the night we brought him home (to his 1st of many homes over the course of a year and a half). Little did we know that there wouldn't have been a better name for him. He might have weighed roughly a pound the next morning when he went for his checkup... but his personality was much larger then a pound. He was the 1st of the 7 puppies to leave his mom and I am certain that he wasn't at all sad. He never looked back. He must have known the he just struck GOLD. Being that I come for a HUGE pet family. I was just a sucker for him. He went to puppy training classes and once we (Duke & I) moved back to my mom's we even had a personal trainer come (possibly a waste of 3 Benjamin Franklins my firefighter would say). Oh well :) He has been such a fun little guy. You can often hear my firefighter call him his "little buddy" or my call him " my baby boy." No need to bother telling me that his nick name might change as soon as I as I have a baby of my own. As of right now he is "my baby." He is the smartest, most stubborn little buddy we could have ever added to the mix. He seems to fit both of our personalities and even on the worst day brings laughter to our lives. I love having this little black ball of fur running around the house, especially when my firefighter is off protecting others lives.  You will probably often hear me refer to him in my post as he is most likely getting into some sort of trouble each and every day! I wouldn't change it for the world and maybe one day I can talk my hubby into getting another one! Here's hoping :)

Duke... Needing to be groomed in this picture desperately!