My Dog, Harley

I love my dog, Harley. He knows just how to make me feel better when I'm in a bad mood! He doesn't mind if I yell at him for getting mud in the house or getting hair EVERYWHERE! He just puts his ears back and minds my commands and when he has done what I ask, he looks up at me with his ears up as if to say, "No, problem. Wanna scratch my head and wrestle?" He's such a good boy and he hardly ever does anything wrong.

In the photos that follow, you can see that he is my best friend and we are two peas in a pod! We are always around each other and he follows me even when I walk into the next room. When I look at him, he's always looking at what I'm doing and ready to go wherever I go. Sometimes, if I have to turn around real quick, I trip over him! He's never in my way, though!

Just look at this photo of me and him loving on each other like bosom buddies!! He loves to get in my lap and wrestle around. I have never had a time when Harley wouldn't cheer me up or be willing to do what I ask of him. Look at us!

I don't know what I would do without my big boy and when I got him as a puppy, he was lonely and sad for the first few weeks because he missed his family. It didn't take long, however, for him to warm up to me and ever since, we have been a pack! What really did it was what happened when we were out in the front yard one day. We were just running and having fun. He was about 3 months old. He laid down on a fire ant mound and the ants got all over him! I ran immediately to his rescue and used the water hose to get the ants off of him. He was so grateful. From then on, he has trusted me with his life and happiness.

I found out when he was about 6 months old that he has a bad case of hip dysplasia. His hip sockets are squared off and the end of his hip bone, that is supposed to be round, is not round at all. He lives with pain sometimes. The veterinarian said he would probably get real bad in a couple of years. So I was looking at maybe having to put him down when he got 3 or so. But guess what! He is over 7 year old now and he still runs up and down the balcony steps, about 15 steps, every day, barking at everything that moves. I have to give him pain medicine sometimes but I have not increased his dose his whole life. He is still only taking a dose every few days. He is so strong and majestic! He intimidates everyone. He's just a puppy to me, though!

My hope is that I have at least 7 more years with my best friend. I know that when the time comes for him to cross the rainbow bridge, I will loose a big part of my life. Until that day, he is and always will be My Dog, Harley!

Shadowcrypt