The Story of Smoky

I am, unequivocally, a dog person. Growing up, my dad was deathly afraid of cats (still is), so we never had one, and I've never really been a fan. I mean, dogs can cuddle with you, run with you and roughhouse. Cats . . . don't.

And it's funny that I feel that way because we now own a cat. Nermal is a rescue from the local animal shelter, and he is a very unique feline. He comes when you call him, likes to play and constantly craves companionship and attention. He is not aloof, lazy or jumpy like many cats. He never hisses. While we got him for Caitlyn and Jason, I really do like him.

Several years ago, I had a giant golden retriever named Dakota. He was almost the perfect dog, except for his awful habit of guarding his food. Dakota was incredibly well-trained (since I left my first teaching job to go train dogs!), and he was mostly just a sweet old gentle soul. Sadly, Dakota stayed with my ex-husband, and he died a few years ago from cancer. I only found out about his death this year, and though I hadn't seen him in years, I still cried over him.

Fast forward to the present, and Jason and I have a pretty full house- two girls, a cat and boys who visit throughout the year. Add in law school, preschool, work for me and we are a pretty busy family. So, the last thing we need is a dog, right? We don't have time for walks, doody duty and yet another playtime, right? Dogs are work. We don't need more work. Dogs shed. We don't need more hair. Do you see where this is going?

Yeah.

We now have a dog. A big, loveable, silly old dumb dog. Can you tell how hard I tried not to love him so much?

Last weekend we went to the Smoky Mountains to see Jason's family. It was beautiful, and we all rented gorgeous cabins for the weekend. Our cabin was at the bottom of the mountain, and everyone else was at the top of the mountain. Well, Jason decided he could run from our cabin to theirs, up the windy, steep mountain road, in less than 10 minutes. Betting and bravado ensued, and the run was on. I followed Jason in the car in case of fatigue or a bear attack, and I must admit I giggled a fair amount of the time.

About a quarter of the way up, this large dog rose out of the underbrush of an deserted cabin. He looked friendly, but Jason hopped in the car just to get past him. When I looked behind us, the big dog was now loping along behind our car, steadily plodding up the mountain. He followed us for half a mile, until we reached the top (Incidentally, Jason did the run in 8 minutes!).

Once we realized the dog was amazingly friendly and mild mannered, albeit utterly emaciated and lonely, we decided the humane thing to do would be to take him home and drop him off at the animal shelter so he would be taken care of.

Over the course of the 8 hour drive home, Smoky, named by Caitlyn and Jason in honor of the mountains, proceeded to win our hearts. He walks well on a leash, is gentle with the girls, protective of our family, picks up commands quickly and is just generally one phenomenal dog. Really, other than his large size, he is the PERFECT dog. And, skeleton that he is, he still isn't aggressive over food.

We deluded ourselves for a few days, telling each other that we still intended to find him a home. We checked with the Tennessee newspapers and animal shelter to see if someone was looking for him. But, Lorelei kept hugging him, and Caitlyn insisted that he was her doggie, and he is just so darn sweet. Even the cat sort of likes him--and Smoky licks the cat, so I would guess that means he likes the cat, too.

So, we've got a dog. Smoky. And you know what? He is a perfect fit for us- just exactly what we'd been missing.