Midnight Think Session...

Well.. It's a little after midnight in Baltimore. Vince is passed out spooning with Maddie (the poodle/chiuaua mix). I'm laying next to them trying to figure out what to do with my restless mind, so what do I do... hop off the bed and into my favorite computer chair and desk and start typing away.

I get on and check my email, my facebook, reply to a message and then start researching dog paw injuries. Maddie is favoring her right paw and I'm nervous because I know that those things can get really ugly quickly. She's so little. My litttle girl, best friend and partner in crime. It really made me think about how long I've had her and what it's been like and how she's still alive.

My little girl, love bug, you name it... I call her it. Rat Dog, Wii Dog, Skinny Mini, Maddie Lynn. She's my world from the moment Mom brought her home in the carrier case and the minute I dumped her scrawny ass out of it. I knew her from before with her previous owner and I think she latched on to me so quickly because I gave her some kind of comfort. You don't realize it but until you have something to take care of, whether it be your house, car, baby, fish or dog... You become part of something bigger. She depends on me. So here I am at midnight in a hot apartment in my night gown looking up how to heal her paw as soon as possible. But I'm also thinking about what times I've had with her.

Don't get me wrong, she's a dog... I know this... but like the guy said on the street corner this evening by the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, they become your buddy and a little extension of who you are. I believe she is the prissy but proper version of me in dog form. She sits with her legs crossed, ears perked up and a smile on her pretty little face. She's beautiful. She barks when someone enters and when I coax her. She smiles at me when she's excited. She wakes me up by patting her paws on my face and sneezing on me. (Disgusting and Cute... I know.) She plays, sleeps and naps adorably. She also never asks for anything, doesn't whine and is sweet when she needs to be. She knows exactly when I need her to just lay down next to me, or love on me until I fall asleep.

It's funny how attached you can get to an animal. Maddie has become my best bud, my little girl and my best friend. She's seen me ugly, sick and completely miserable and has given me unconditional love. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all love like animals, not the animalistic kind of love from in the wild, but the domestic master/best friend kind of love? The love that doesn't end if you have a fight or disagreement, cooked something wrong or decided to change your mind about something... but the love that endures and last beyond the bad moments and appreciates the good ones, the kind of love that knows that through it all, You need each other kind of love?

I think I've found that in someone very special. Not just my dog but my loving boyfriend of 2 years. It seems that I found the most precious things in my life 2 years ago... My dog, My boyfriend, My best friend and the ability to be on my own. They've now seen me through some of the toughest moments in my life and have not let me down yet. They've also supported me in everything I've done thus far.

I can only hope that I can give the unconditional love back to them like they have shown to me. It's funny how I'm thinking about how much I appreciate those 3 people... but them 4 more jump into my head.

My little troop at home. Maddie is apart of it, but then there is Max (a 8+ yr. old Lhaso Apso) and Roma (our newest addition, a 4+ year old German Shepard Mix). The 3 of them have the best personalities. Roma and Maddie are very much alike, except for the fact that Maddie is about 21" long and weighs about 10 lbs. Roma on the other hand weighs about 60 lbs and believes she is a lap dog. She is our  YODA. She shows exactly how she feels with those long pointy ears of hers and has the prettiest big girl smile I've ever seen. She is prim and proper with perfectly self manicured paws and a gorgeous but shedful (is that a word?) coat that will leave you covered with a film of dog hair after she leaves.


Max, our only boy dog and kind of the house, is the laziest and bossiest little man you will ever meet. Yet, as he grows with age he shows just how much he appreciates you with snotfilled hugs and rubs. Poor guy with his pushed in nose. He's stinky and doesn't care about who sees his man parts... he just wants to be comfortable, and damn if he doesn't succeed. He latched on to my mother and gets jealous when my Dad tries to lay a hand on her. It's hilarious. He will carry a full conversation with you and will tell you off when you have over stepped your groud. He likes to be given a bone just because he can be given one and is sometimes too lazy to get off the bed to go outside. He lets us greet him rather than he greet us. If you leave a chair out by the table, he will assume it's his seat and will either A) jump on the chair and pass out or B) climb up on the highest object he can from that chair (usually the dining room table) and sleep on it until he is repemanded.

This brings me to another thought... Dogs have the same and also different personalities as humans do. I always have thought that's why we are so eager to have them as company, because they can act like us, but we don't have to listen or understand their lip. We can tune them out or take them in whole heartedly.

The other 2 people I must acknowledge are my parents... who have literally risked it all to let me go to college and persue my dreams. I couldn't ask for a better family.

My troops + parents + boyfriend + best friend = very blessed and truly grateful Whitney Wright.