Our First Son

The Christmas card that was never sent because it said "Waiting for Turner" and he came 17 or so hours after we sent the card to be printed!

   

Okay, so Gordon is our 4 year old pug who has been neglected the last almost 2 months.  The baby knocked him right off of my radar, poor little guy.  So, I thought I would write a blog about him in a sad attempt to not completely forget him.  Also, I am trying to convince Heath that we are not getting rid of him.  I will get to that.  

Let me start from the beginning.  I am not a dog person.   Probably because my mom is the least dog/animal person on the planet.  When I was in sixth grade, Lindsey was dying for a dog.  She took care of the neighbor's dog so much, that she gave us Mac.  (Side note - Heath is really wishing we had a neighbor who loved to come take care of our dog).  I liked him, but I remember telling my parents that I didn't want to get a dog, because I would like it and then one day it would die and I would be sad.  Commitment issues?!  Wow.  Anyway, Mac ran away in high school, and I briefly wanted a kitten named Neill my senior year (why?) but besides that, I haven't desired animals.

I don't remember what made me start wanting Gordon.  I guess we got married, had a house and thought a pet would be cute.  Maybe because I was working in second grade and they talk a lot about animals.  I don't know.  I decided I wanted a weiner dog named Herman, but Heath shot that down.  One day he was at Panera and saw a pug in a lady's purse and thought it was cute, so he decided we could get a pug.  

On Christmas Eve 2004, we drove to Albertville to pick up our dog that we found in the newspaper.  We knew he would be black, so on the way there we were trying to think of names.  Heath was not as into it as I was (I should have seen the foreshadowing).  I was set on a human name.  We passed a sign for a man who sold insurance named Gordon Henderson, and that was it!

We pulled up to the very rural home in Albertville, and there were puppies everywhere.  Chihuahuas in the den inside, pugs in a very cold cage outside.  This little black puppy was tiny and shivering and looked up at me with very sad eyes.  I picked him up and I told Heath that we had to keep him, because he couldn't live like that.  Anyway, we signed the papers and paid the money and we had a puppy!  So sweet!  Before we left, Heath asked the large country man about pugs' temperaments.  He said, "Well, I reckon they take on the temperament of their owners.  If you are hopper (hyper), then that pup's gonna be hopper (hyper)."  Heath and I looked at each other and laughed, knowing I was a hopper one!

The afternoon we got him, we took him to mom and dad's house.  Mom was wrapping Christmas presents and said "Get that thing off of my carpet!"  Compassion was oozing.  

Fast forward to starting school after Christmas.  Gordon has been a huge part of my class ever since then.  When we learn about adjectives, they can describe him in extreme detail, never having seen him!  Crazy, but second graders love dogs, especially funny looking ones.  He was even our mascot this year for a school fundraiser.  It involved him wearing a t-shirt and putting his paw in on top of our fists in a huddle.

I am trying to remember some highlights of his 4 years with us.  One time I walked in the kitchen when he was just a few months old, and he was nowhere to be found!  I panicked and checked the door and it was locked.  Then I checked the doggy gate - still standing.  He was not in the kitchen!  I was close to tears when I looked down and saw his doggy bed inching across the kitchen.  He had chewed a hole in it, flipped it over, climbed inside and flipped it back over.  Hilarious, once I realized he was not going to die of heat exhaustion.  

Another time that summer, I had gone out of town for a few days.  When I came back, I was petting him and found a tick.  I freaked out and called the vet - it was his first tick.  They laughed at me (because I was hysterical), then told me how to get rid of it.  Oh, I bet Gordon wishes he could get a tick now and see me care that much about him again!  Oh well.

Another story was last summer when we were walking around the neighborhood.  It was the middle of July, and he kept laying down on the grass, rolling around and panting.  I told him to stop being so dramatic, but he kept doing it.  I mentioned to the vet that he was dramatic, and the vet told me that he was actually passing out.  Duh!  

That reminds me of the other time when he was a puppy and I let him eat oreos.  He loved them.  Then Lindsey and Derek both told me that chocolate would kill him!!  Oops.  

So many stories - this is not helping my case as a mother for Turner.  Hopefully I know more about humans!!

One last memory.  Two years ago we were walking on our street, and a small Indian boy (4 years old or so) looked VERY puzzled as we walked by.  He asked if he could pet Gordon, and then he, very seriously, asked, "Is that a dog?  Or a pig?"  I was dying laughing.

Well, all this to say, Gordon is existing pretty well with Turner.  Today was the first time that he heard Turner scream, and started growling.  But I felt like it was a territorial, brotherly growl.  Needless to say, Heath does not agree.  This weekend he stepped in a little present from Gordon, and swore he was going to disappear soon.  He even said, "If you come home and he is not here, I don't know anything about it."  And lately when we are at parties or in public, Heath will announce that we are giving away a pug, and try to talk him up to people.  Not so!

I will leave you with a picture of Uncle Derek with his very first nephew.  Look closely, because you may recognize him soon at a nearby animal shelter.  Call me - not Heath- and I will come pick him up!  Sorry, Gordon, your mom is fighting for you!!

           Who would say Gordon is ugly?!