Just give me one good reason...

Lately our dog, Dirk, has been making me a little crazy. Everyone keeps asking how Dirk is with the baby - he's actually great with the baby. Aside from the fact that he wants to lick her in the face a little too much, he's very gentle with her and gets very concerned when he hears her cry. I will let you imagine how annoying it is to hear the dog whining combined with Lily crying. In a word: ANNOYING. Anyway, I need one more reason why we should keep him. I figure I should at least have five good ones so that when Tim comes home with offers for potential new homes for Dirk I can hold out.

1. Pride. I decided when we first started acquiring animals that we would not get animals only to get rid of them when they became inconvenient. I don't have anything against people that have done this, in fact, I completely understand why someone might want to give up their hyperactive Weimeraner. I just promised myself that I wouldn't do it.

2. Protection. Dirk barks at the neighbors across the street when they close the gate to their backyard. Sometimes he barks at passing cars. Sometimes I swear he barks at nothing just to piss me off and wake up the baby (hard to tell). BUT, Dirk barks, and he has a big tough bark that sounds like he's going to eat rather than lick your face off. This makes me feel safe, especially when our neighborhood does not seem to always be the safest.

3. Love. Ok, I do love my dog. The other day I took him to the park with Lily, my friend, and her little boy. We were the only ones in the park so I let him off leash, and he grabbed the biggest stick he could find and pranced around to his heart's content like some idiotic oversized deer...and it made me laugh. I don't know if you can fully appreciate that if you haven't seen Dirk prance.

4. He's a really nice dog. Even the five vet techs that have to muzzle Dirk and wrestle him to the ground in order to clip his stupid nails agree...he's a sweetheart. He's just very big, and very, very dumb. Heart of gold, though.

5. I need your help, friends, to come up with number 5. Yes, Chelsea, even you.

This is Dirk with his "party ears" on, as Tim calls them.


Dirk guarding my mom and Lily.


"Why did you have a baby? Wasn't I enough work for you?"

"You can't tell me what to do, you're not even my real mom!"