Meet "Cayson"

Originally known as...Cayson. : )

From Jill and Geoff:

Life With Nine Dogs, Now Life With Two Dogs!

This is something I never thought we would do-EVER! After all, one year ago when Bailey gave birth to her nine little pups we were also chasing after a 7 month old baby. Nothing can explain the experience of watching little lives come into this world and witnessing Mama Bailey knowing just what to do.

It was an anxious early morning when Bailey gave birth to the first pup shortly after midnight. The first half of the pups seemed to come one right after another. We had an assembly line of delivery, cutting the cord, weighing them, identifying, and putting the squirmy fuzzies under a heat lamp with their other brothers and sisters. Then there was a two hour break before the last four were delivered - the last one being around 9:00am. 9 puppies in all! Holy Moley we did it!

All were marked with different colored string so we could know who's who, except the last one who had no collar. We fondly called her "Nudie" because we only had 8 colors of string. Looking back the two months we took care of the puppies, it went by in a flash. It was a whirlwind of soiled newspapers, weighing puppies every 2 days, giving them baths every day, and I've never gone through more Clorox wipes in my life! We had lots of help from family and friends who would visit them, help us with the maintenance, and gave the puppies lots of love. By the time they were 7-8 weeks old they were an ambunctious bunch and traveled all in one tumbling herd. They loved exploring our backyard! One by one they left us to live in wonderful loving homes.

I have to admit though - I felt symptoms of "empty nest" and a weird sense of quiet settled over the house. I know Geoff felt the same. We were down to two little boy pups. One I was determined to keep because he had a big white spot on his chest and also seemed to snuggle with Geoff constantly. The other puppy we were keeping for Ryann to surprise Bryce on his wedding day. These two brothers became Cayson and Wrigley. Cayson became the new permanent addition to our household. He has been a joy and a terror all in one. I don't know how many times Geoff and I had the conversation, "We're fed up with the chewing! Maybe we need to find him another home!" These words were said often in anger, desperation, or through my tears over something Cayson ate or demolished. Thank God we never followed through!

Cayson is a part of our family. Though he is night and day different than his mom Bailey, he is a snuggly, loving dog. Most importantly our daughter Addy absolutely adores him! They have a special bond and it very cute to watch Addy climb on Cayson, give him hugs, lay on him, and play together. He's the dog that likes to climb inside her playhouse and give her big wet "hit and run" kisses as I like to call them.

Cayson's big downfall is his separation anxiety when we leave. Here's where the "terror" part comes in. He literally destroys everything and will take anything in reach through the doggie door. Later we'll find it in pieces in the middle of yard. He's taken 2 tv remotes, rugs, coffeepot, Addy's sippy cups, wine bottles, steak knives, toys, books, curtains, bills, & money (I'm sure I'm leaving things out). Not to mention he gave our deck a new look by tearing off the lattice, chewing on the ends of the deck and manicured our yard by eating grape vines and tree limbs. I can honestly say life with two dogs, okay just Cayson, is an adventure.

Mama Bailey is still our sweet natured dog and has mellowed out a lot in one year. Her eyes look much older and wiser and she moves a little slower. She puts up with a lot between Cayson and Addy, but she is still our reliable wonderful dog. Bailey and Cayson play really well together and Cayson puts some spring back in Bailey's step. We know Cayson has had lots of mishaps in his first year of life but when we're with him he brings us so much joy. He has become known in our householdand "Cayson Buddy", "Mr. Gentleman", and to Addy (now 19 months) it's, "Caaaaayson. Caaaaayson come!"

Cayson
Cayson and Mama Bailey
Mama Bailey