Xenogenesis

Joe's Christmas present:

 

A labradoodle named Chewbacca. 

Joe has been itching for a puppy for a long time. Since-his-dog-died-while-he-was-on-his-mission-ten-years-ago long time. One time while we were walking around Ikea he even picked out a stuffed dog and carried it around the entire store in his arms, (when he thought I wasn't looking) periodically petting it. He even bought it and kept it on the couch with him while he was watching TV, petting it. It just about broke my heart. That is how bad Joe wanted a puppy.

My conditions were that it needed to be a designer puppy that didn't shed*, that was extremely calm, and would never weigh more than me.

We settled on a labradoodle in August. And my idea to give the best Christmas present Joe could ever dream of was born. But just getting Joe a puppy wasn't enough. It also needed to be a surprise!

So I began telling Joe that I thought we should wait a bit longer for a dog..at leasat another year. We'll talk about it once we've been married for a year. I wasn't ready yada, yada, yada. Non of this came as a shock to Joe as I'd been telling him the same thing since we were dating seriously enough to be talking about theoretical dogs in future homes. But behind the scenes I was making arrangements with a breeder in Yakima.

Fast forward to December 24th when Joe and I are driving out to my parents and I make the turn to Yakima. I didn't say a word to Joe other than we were going to get a Christmas surprise. He asked if it was a puppy. I told him he would be extremely disappointed if he thought he was getting a puppy and to set his sights a little lower. He settled on buffalo steaks (what I got him for Christmas last year) and that we were going to a buffalo farm. So you can imagine his surprise when we walk inside the breeders house and a fluffy puppy was put in his arms.

BEST SURPRISE EVER, RIGHT?!

Chewie has become quite the good little companion. I'm surprised how much we love and enjoy him. (Seriously, who thought I would ever be saying I love a dog?!)

A few facts you might enjoy knowing about Chewie:

• If he hears a rustling bag he assumes it is the sound of treats for him and immediately sits and waits for you to recognize how deserving he is.
• He is a big fan of socks. 
• If Chewie finds something he likes, but knows he shouldn't have, (ie socks, shoes, incredibly large and dirty sticks from outside, hairbands, one of Levin's toys) he makes a mad dash to his bed in the living room. He thinks you don't see him or hear him if he goes really, really fast. Unfortunately for him the opposite is true. If you walk up to him when he has said restricted items, he lays on them quickly so you can't see them and pretends like nothing is going on.
• He knows the difference between his right paw and his left paw. It is his favorite trick.
• We almost named him Tatanka. 
• Dad came up with the name Chewbacca.
• He loves Joe and gets so excited when he hears him coming home at night.
• He loves to take naps with on me.

I was extremely skeptical about getting a dog, but knew Joe would love it. Joe kept saying it was the best Christmas present he'd ever had. And you know, Joe might be on to something. Because there are few things better than coming home and seeing a wagging tail.

*True story: Chewbacca sheds less than Joe's beard.