I never would have thought...

We had a dog here and there throughout my childhood and I loved them. But ever since I was in middle school we only had cats. Because of this I had always categorized myself as a "dog AND cat" person. That was before we got Rosco. When we rescued him I quickly learned that I was most definitely a "cat ONLY" person. I know some of the reasons people claim to love dogs - the dogs are always happy to see them when they get home, they give unconditional love, yada yada. Those things never sounded especially appealing to me. I don't need someone to be happy I'm home - I'm happy enough myself. And then you know the story of Rosco's beginning. The tears, bruises, rage, fights. That obviously didn't help. Well I tell you - we have come a looooong way. It took a long time, but I love that dog so much. In the early days when I was reading up on dogs to figure out how in the world I was going to do this I learned that he needed some tough love - which helped - and a "job." A job? Well, he has his job now. He is such a good protector - which I absolutely love because of Luke's job and how much he is away. Rosco's job has been very apparent over the last year. New baby and the new house. He guards us like you wouldn't believe. When there would be workers around he would sit with his back to me (usually right up against me) facing the worker or doorway. Always between us. Even when there's nobody in our house he will "guard" us. Here he was guarding us while I was doing laundry (nobody else was home). I love it.

Yes, we've come a long way. This is one of the probably 3 times I've let him curl up on my lap. He's not allowed on the furniture - but every once in a while....