Today I needed to bathe all three dogs and blow out an INCREDIBLE amount of hair from two in particular (I’m looking at you, boys!).  I decided to save my back for once and wash them on the table in the backyard…hallelujah.  I got soaked from head to toe but it was so much easier!  Especially doing all of them.  As usual on bath day, I felt inspired to break out the camera.  I didn’t get any good side shots of Nash as he was being a TURD on the table (umm, guess we’d better start working on that again, eh?), but did get this cute face picture of the boy:

Nash at one year - isn't he handsome?

And would you believe this, but in two days is BRADY’S 12th BIRTHDAY!  I can hardly believe that he’s that old.  I was thinking about it the other day…that means Carolyn and Mandy have been putting up with me for nearly that long, too, since I got Molly from them when Brady was less than a year old.  Brady was bought as and has always been a pet in the best sense of the word, but this boy has taught me so much.  Sometimes the things he has taught me are what NOT to do, or what I DON’T enjoy doing, but that’s valuable too.    I joke that Brady is “Dave’s dog”, because they have always shared a special bond that he and I just don’t have.  Despite that, Brady is a clever, outgoing, opinionated, full of life pain-in-the-butt that has always kept our house interesting.  Even at 12, he pretty regularly fraps with Nash…he has always loved playing with dogs, as long as they understand that He Owns All The Toys.  He is not a big dog (hovering +/- 30 pounds) and is structurally fairly average and light-boned, but Brady has always been a Good Dog who’s distinct personality shines through in everything he does.

So, this dog has been OBSESSED with bunnies ever since we lived in Denver where they abounded in our yard.  He (and Zach) caught a baby one back then, but didn’t injure it…just slobbered all over it until I noticed something afoot in the backyard and yelled out “drop it!” at which point Brady opened his mouth and the bunny bolted.  So he has spent the past probably 9-10 years of his life hoping and trying to catch another one, and in fact we can’t even say the word bunny or Brady will go nuts whining and running around looking for it.  I think a squirrel would suffice too, but they are too smart.  SO…Last night when I let the dogs out, I heard a ruckus so went out to see what was going on, and what do I find??  A very proud Brady, carrying a (sadly broken-necked) bunny in his mouth.  I told Dave about the incident, who is out of town, and he said “That’s it…his life is complete.  He finally caught and killed a damned bunny.”

It's amazing how fast they can go from looking "not that old" to "old".

Do I get cheese for this? (please ignore his old-man long nails)