Canine Companions

I did a fly by at Weight Watchers last night (I had just brought Carin to the vet to have her catheter removed and she was sitting in the car) and even through this past week has been a nightmare I managed to lose a half a pound! When I am stressed I don’t eat right (sometimes I don’t eat at all other times I can’t stop eating) and my physical activity plummets. So I am ecstatic about the half a pound!
As far as ‘Freddie’ is concerned there are two schools of thought about getting a new dog before the departure of the old one. Some believe you must have time to mourn the loss of a friend/companion. Others feel it is necessary for the old one to meet the new one in order for the old one to gain peace of mind. Carin has been an amazing companion to me through some very difficult times. She makes it obvious that she worries about me. I am one of those who feels it is necessary for her to give her chew of approval for any new four legged child who comes into my life. Add that to the fact I have two kids who have spent the better part of their lives with her and then there is Charlie! Charlie the oversized lap dog who knows how to play on different levels; my boys he plays a gentle game of tug-a-war, me he wrestles and body slams lightly, Carin it used to be all out rough housing! I wanted a bulldog but that would not have been a good match for Charlie.
The other night I was trying to come up with a name so they could start using that name when dealing with him. I was sitting them trying to come up with something and Charlie was sitting right next to me. Chaos, Cody, Diego – nah, none of them sounded right. Linus (one of Charlie’s nicknames is Charlie Brown), Freddie… Charlie jumped on me and started licking me! I named a few more and he ignored me again, Freddie again, he was on top of me giving me kisses! OK! I get the picture, you want him to be named Freddie! Mind you this is the same dog who came from the pound with the name of “Buba” and while driving I was asking him what his name should be and he ignored all names but Charlie.