Undeniably Wonderful

Of course it is quite obvious that everyone here at Yesteryear Acres LOVES doggies.  We love doggies and kitties and horses and stinker doodles and all creatures great and small.  Having animals to love makes every day a good day. I can easily name 100 things that are wonderful about having a best furry friend and could spend all day talking about how much we love our furry companions.  Today I was watching my son with one of our doodle doggies and I thought about what an important part dogs play in his life. Here is a 17 year old boy, 6'4" tall, responsible, hard-working, and when looking at him - he looks like a man. Whenever we go out, people always assume he is much much older than he is. He works like a man. He acts like a man.  And he takes on his responsibilities at Yesteryear Acres like a man. Today school was cancelled and my son didn't sleep in.  My son didn't watch TV or lounge around the house.  My son started working the second he woke up. While all his other friends were bored with nothing to do, my son was hard at work. He often has a serious look on his face as he goes about getting all the farm chores done but that look changes instantly to a happy, care-free, all-encompassing youth-filled smile of a boy whenever he is with one of our doggies. Every day my son says something like, "Just LOOK how CUTE she is" or "how can this dog be SO adorable?" about one of our doggies.  He is always petting our dogs, hugging our dogs and is rarely without a furry shadow.  He always has a doggie on his bed to snuggle with and is surrounded by the love of our doggies every single day. I think that might be one of my favorite things about raising puppies.  How it can melt the exterior of a serious grown boy into a carefree smiling child full of laughter in less than a second. How wonderful it is to be able to freely express so much love and joy and immediately get it returned right back with even more enthusiasm. The same thing can be said about Mr. Yesteryear Acres. He is always walking into the house saying things to our dogs like, "OH you want a back scratch?" or "Do you need a hug?"  Sometimes he has to lie down on the floor after lunch so all the puppies and doggies can snuggle around him - because "the doggies asked him." He will look at me and say, "I can't get up. The doggies won't let me!" My older daughter often is enveloped in a serious military bearing, but give her 5 minutes with a doggie - and she totally reverts back to the little girl with pigtails who used to run around Yesteryear Acres with childlike glee. That transformation is a wonderful amazing thing. The unconditional happiness and love that a furry best buddy brings is palpable.  It is undeniably wonderful.  Having a doodle doggie to love...it is a beautiful thing.