Thunder Buddies for life

I was inspired to write this post after reading THIS article.

I think everyone pretty much knows how obsessed I am with my dog, Melky. So, this post is for her…

Back in May 2005, we had to put our dog Hairy to sleep. She was really old and her health was declining rapidly–she had fatty tumors all over her body and couldn’t see well. I won’t forget that day because it was Cindo de Mayo and it was the first time that I was going to really have to deal with the death of someone close to me (NOT someTHING… because she was family). My mom called Hairy out to the van and I watched her hobble out to take a ride. She had no idea where she was going. I saw my mom close the door to the van and closed the blinds. That was the last time I had a pet. I don’t really consider my fish–Walter or Petrie–from college pets because they didn’t want anything to do with me.

Melky pretty much happened on accident. My brother took a trip to South Carolina with his now in-laws for Thanksgiving. On Black Friday they went to a Flea Market and discovered that someone was selling puppies. Mike and I had been wanting another dog for years and even cleaned out the entire garage at my parent’s house because they had told us if we did that, we could have a dog. Little did we know that they didn’t think we would actually clean out the garage… so we didn’t get any new pets. I was at a concert, seeing Mayday Parade, and my brother texted me saying that he just bought a little black dog. I was SO excited, but also really confused because he had also just purchased a house shortly before and he worked full time. I wasn’t exactly sure how a little puppy was going to be trained. When he got back from South Carolina–I totally forget what he was doing and why he was unable to do it–but I picked Melky up from his in-laws house to bring her back to his house. She was SO tiny and SO adorable. Her little snoot was just a tiny little bump on her furry puppy face. I asked Mike how in the world he picked her out of the liter of her brothers and sisters and he said that her brothers and sisters were all jumping around crazy looking for his attention and Melky just sat there starring at him and he knew that she was the one.

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Baby Melky Baby Melky Baby Melky
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These are the very first photos that I ever took of her… it’s her on my lap as we drove to Mike’s house.

Mike wanted me to walk Melky while he was at work and try to teach her to not use his house as her personal bathroom. It was really no problem since I had been laid off from work a few months before and still had not found a new job. Instead of just showing up to his house though, I started to kidnap Melky and bring her to my parent’s house on a daily basis and then Mike would pick her up on his way home from work. I did this because I felt like it was her best shot at socialization and learning. As time started to pass, Mike realized that with having such a demanding job, it was really hard to take care of Melky and give her all of the love and attention that she deserved. Little by little, Melky started spending the night at our house until she just became a permanent resident.

My parent’s didn’t really want another animal after having put Hairy down years before because they didn’t want to have the responsibility of finding someone to watch the pet(s) when going out of town or being out all day. But, Melky and I were already best buddies. There was no way that Mike or myself would let Melky go anywhere.

I would carry Melky with me everything that I would go in the house when she first started living with us because her little legs were still too short to walk longer distances quickly so as soon as she would lose sight of you, she would cry. When I would use the computer, I put her in the middle of my bed surrounded by blankets so she wouldn’t fall off and she would have something cozy to snuggle up to if she was sleepy.

We also spent a lot of time playing in the grass… and she spent a lot of time trying to eat it. Everyone was really surprised at how quickly Melky became potty trained… but like I said, we spent a lot of time outside. Whenever she would start to squat inside the house, we would pick her up and run her outside and put her in the grass. She’s a very smart dog and connected the two rather quickly.

She’s pretty fearless when it comes to most things. She truly doesn’t know her own size because she goes up to really big dogs and wants to play. She does have one fear, though, and that is thunder. I call her my Thunder Buddy obviously after the movie Ted, but because we build forts when it thunders and hide under them. Usually, she just prefers running to my room to put on her thunder shirt, and then we hide underneath my blankets until the thunder as moved on.

Melky is also an avid baseball fan. When Mike got her he wanted to name her after a Yankee. His now wife, being a Red Sox fan, was not about to let that happen. So, Mike picked out Melky (Cabrera) since he was no longer a Yankee but he was still a fan of him as a player. When I’m sitting on the couch, she always comes out to watch the games with me. During the 2013 post season, I probably almost gave her a heart attack because of all the jumping up and down and screaming that I may or may not have been a participant in ;o). I’m also allowed to make my lame jokes and comments and she never says anything. Like, for example, this past week while we were watching the Rays and the Jays I was like, “Hey Melky look! There’s Melky!” She just glanced at the tv and then back to me… pretty sure that was her way of rolling her sweet little eyes at me, but she still didn’t tell me how lame my joke was which is awesome. She also loves wrestling. When we have WWE on, she always runs up to the TV when Ryback comes on… I think she just loves the whole, “feed me more,” lyrics.

There’s also the part where she loves to play dress up. I never planned to have a dog dress up, and I actually used to make fun of people for it… but Melky legit enjoys putting on clothing. It may have started out when I bought her a little winter coat when she was a puppy because I had seen that puppies cannot regulate their body temperature like adult dogs so it was important to help them. Boom. Pink, fuzzy, sparkly jacket purchased. When she grew out of it, I made her a little pink tutu. She LOVES it. Whenever I take it out she always spins in circles and follows me because she knows that it is hers. When we put it on her she will run around with a huge smile on her face so we tell her how pretty she looks. I also entered her in a costume contest her first Halloween. We both dressed up as Snooki from Jersey Shore. She was so excited to be on stage and see all of the little kids in the front row that all of the pieces of her costume fell off before she was off of the stage.

Whenever I need a riding buddy, I always know exactly who to ask. When Melky hears the word, “ride,” she has this little switch that goes off in her head where she darts toward the door… and opens it. Yes, Melky knows how to open the door. She will stand in the garage smiling and wagging her curly little tail waiting for you to get the keys and put on your shoes. Then she will eagerly rush toward the car and jump in her seat. She’s become very good at staying in one place in the car rather than all of the exploring and lap sitting that she did when she was an itty bitty version of herself. I always get compliments when we go to the bank or grab a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a… everyone thinks Melky is the most well behaved dog because she just stares out the window and observes what is going on.

Dog really is a man’s best friend. This has been hands down the greatest $50 Mike will ever spend. Crazy to think she was $50… and she’s given us years of happiness with so many more to come.

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December 5, 2010

December 6, 2010

cuddling

January 8, 2011

January 2011

January 12, 2011

February 6, 2011

February 14, 2011

Playing in the grass

March 2011

June 20, 2011

July 4, 2011

July 29, 2011

August 8, 2011

September 2011

October 2011

October 21, 2011

October 31, 2011

November 23, 2011

Melky's First Birthday

December 2012

IMG_1849

2013
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