On June 1st, 2008, Duke's mom Lacey gave birth to 10 little puppies and one of them was our very own Dukey!
Duke is the one all by himself, I had just laid him down. All the dogs with collars are taken, including Duke with his army collar on!On June 1st, Duke was not even a thought in our minds. Sure we talked about getting a dog, a lab, but not until we were more settled.
At this time in our lives I was ending up another school year and we were preparing for Joey to leave again to go to Washington for about 40 days.
Joey left towards the end of June and a day after he left I sat at my parents house looking at the Sheboygan Press. My whole intention of looking at the press was to look at the classifieds for jobs. I knew I needed something to do to keep me busy while Joey was gone or I would go crazy. I already was having a hard time and it had only been a day that he was gone. Well before I got to the job postings I decided to just check out the animal section of the classifieds. And what do I see....yellow lab puppies for sale! I of course got sidetracked and the job hunting never happened. Instead I got all the information about the puppies for when Joey called. While I was waiting for Joey to call I went into complete research mode in finding out what it would take to bring a dog to Korea, which at the time was where we thought we were going to go after San Antonio.
By the time Joey called I was prepared with all the information and knew I could pretty much handle any questions he would have. He of course was all for this and told me go look at them.
We both knew though that if I went I was going to leave with picking our Duke out. And sure enough that weekend my parents, Katy, and I went to go check out the pups. And after an hour of hanging out with the male pups that were available I picked out Duke. We put his collar on and I put a deposit down. We were now owners of a yellow lab puppy!
I was not able to take him home that day because he was only 5 weeks old and still needed his Mom, so I had 3 weeks to prepare for our little guy!
(The day I picked Duke out!)
I remember the day I picked him up, July 14th. Joey was not home yet and would not be for a couple of weeks. So my mom, Katy, and I went to go get our little guy. I was a bundle of nerves. The moment was bitter sweet because as excited as I was to get Duke, I was also a little sad that Joey was not home to share in this moment with me. But looking back now I realize that being an army wife I might have more moments just like that. Because when everything is all said and done the Army owns Joey and if the country needs him he goes!
Anyways, on the way home Duke fell asleep in my arms. And I was like okay this is going to be easy. Not so much! That night I was up every hour, getting pretty much no sleep at all and Duke was feisty. I of course was so tired and emotional and cried to my mom that I picked out an aggressive dog. Well I was reassured he was just being a puppy. But later that week I went to Petsmart and got Duke signed up for puppy class. Best thing I ever did. Those classes are totally for the owners and they are awesome because I learned so much. And Duke is a great dog now because of those classes! Otherwise I am pretty certain we might have had a Marley on our hands!
(Joey and Duke meet for the first time in the Green Bay Airport parking lot!)
As I am writing this and thinking back to that time, it seems like we have had Duke forever. Hard to picture life before Duke.
I feel in love with Duke the day I picked him out, but never thought I would love him as much as I do. He is truly a blessing to us!
He especially has a special place in my heart because he is always with me! He is my constant companion. I can honestly say that he is a huge part of how I have made it through this deployment. Without him I don't think I could have stayed here in Texas. But because I had him to come home to every night I was able to do it.
And looking back he has gotten me through so much. Including when I first got him, he got me through that time Joey was gone, he got me through our time in San Antonio when Joey was gone a lot, and now through this deployment. Some people may say that we are crazy to love an animal as much as we do but I can bet that those people never had a dog like Duke and never have been through some of the stuff we have. And before we had Duke I probably would of said the same thing. But Duke is a constant companion and loves us no matter what. He brings us so much joy and happiness! Words can't even begin to describe what he means to us and all the happiness he brings us!
So thank you Duke! We love you so much!
Here are some of my favorite pictures of our Duke!
Instant best friends!
Practicing "LEAVE IT"
Duke got a pool to splash around in this summer and he happened to get it around his birthday!!
I honestly believe if humans were just a little more like dogs, who love unconditionally, the world would be a much better place!!
At this time in our lives I was ending up another school year and we were preparing for Joey to leave again to go to Washington for about 40 days.
Joey left towards the end of June and a day after he left I sat at my parents house looking at the Sheboygan Press. My whole intention of looking at the press was to look at the classifieds for jobs. I knew I needed something to do to keep me busy while Joey was gone or I would go crazy. I already was having a hard time and it had only been a day that he was gone. Well before I got to the job postings I decided to just check out the animal section of the classifieds. And what do I see....yellow lab puppies for sale! I of course got sidetracked and the job hunting never happened. Instead I got all the information about the puppies for when Joey called. While I was waiting for Joey to call I went into complete research mode in finding out what it would take to bring a dog to Korea, which at the time was where we thought we were going to go after San Antonio.
By the time Joey called I was prepared with all the information and knew I could pretty much handle any questions he would have. He of course was all for this and told me go look at them.
We both knew though that if I went I was going to leave with picking our Duke out. And sure enough that weekend my parents, Katy, and I went to go check out the pups. And after an hour of hanging out with the male pups that were available I picked out Duke. We put his collar on and I put a deposit down. We were now owners of a yellow lab puppy!
I was not able to take him home that day because he was only 5 weeks old and still needed his Mom, so I had 3 weeks to prepare for our little guy!
(The day I picked Duke out!)I remember the day I picked him up, July 14th. Joey was not home yet and would not be for a couple of weeks. So my mom, Katy, and I went to go get our little guy. I was a bundle of nerves. The moment was bitter sweet because as excited as I was to get Duke, I was also a little sad that Joey was not home to share in this moment with me. But looking back now I realize that being an army wife I might have more moments just like that. Because when everything is all said and done the Army owns Joey and if the country needs him he goes!
Anyways, on the way home Duke fell asleep in my arms. And I was like okay this is going to be easy. Not so much! That night I was up every hour, getting pretty much no sleep at all and Duke was feisty. I of course was so tired and emotional and cried to my mom that I picked out an aggressive dog. Well I was reassured he was just being a puppy. But later that week I went to Petsmart and got Duke signed up for puppy class. Best thing I ever did. Those classes are totally for the owners and they are awesome because I learned so much. And Duke is a great dog now because of those classes! Otherwise I am pretty certain we might have had a Marley on our hands!
(Joey and Duke meet for the first time in the Green Bay Airport parking lot!)As I am writing this and thinking back to that time, it seems like we have had Duke forever. Hard to picture life before Duke.
I feel in love with Duke the day I picked him out, but never thought I would love him as much as I do. He is truly a blessing to us!
He especially has a special place in my heart because he is always with me! He is my constant companion. I can honestly say that he is a huge part of how I have made it through this deployment. Without him I don't think I could have stayed here in Texas. But because I had him to come home to every night I was able to do it.
And looking back he has gotten me through so much. Including when I first got him, he got me through that time Joey was gone, he got me through our time in San Antonio when Joey was gone a lot, and now through this deployment. Some people may say that we are crazy to love an animal as much as we do but I can bet that those people never had a dog like Duke and never have been through some of the stuff we have. And before we had Duke I probably would of said the same thing. But Duke is a constant companion and loves us no matter what. He brings us so much joy and happiness! Words can't even begin to describe what he means to us and all the happiness he brings us!
So thank you Duke! We love you so much!
Here are some of my favorite pictures of our Duke!
Instant best friends!
Practicing "LEAVE IT"
Duke got a pool to splash around in this summer and he happened to get it around his birthday!!
I honestly believe if humans were just a little more like dogs, who love unconditionally, the world would be a much better place!!
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