I LOVE our dog!

I LOVE our dog, Sunny. She's a 5.5 year old (wow, where has the time gone?!) slightly overweight Yellow Lab that my husband kind of sprung on me. We had a one-year-old lab mix and a 1.5 year old daughter (Alayna) and I was going to college full-time as well as working, on top of Andy's full-time work schedule, too. We really didn't need another dog. Maybe that's why he sprung it on me at the last minute, with a bit of desperation.

"I've always wanted a hunting dog, and Kane (our other dog at the time) is more your dog. I promise that I'll be the one to work with her, train her, etc... She's pure-bred and has papers, so we could always breed her, too!" You know how things like this go. I agreed and he informed his co-worker that we did indeed want the puppy. What I didn't know is that we couldn't pick her out ourselves, his co-worker was getting her from a friend on a trip to Iowa. Hmmm, okay.

It was one of the best choices we made. She was the calmest puppy, never really went through that puppy stage of chewing, biting, eating everything, peeing all over. She was great and only got better.

Sunny has never really turned into Andy's hunting dog, though she is his companion. But she does get excited when he gets his shot gun out and loves to go with him to the farm for shoots. She also loves to just ride into town with him, she gets angry if he feeds the animal without her and will whine from in the house, she wants to be in the garage with him while he's working, she just loves Andy.

But the thing that puts her over the top in our hearts is that she loves the kids and I, too. She will let the girls crawl all over her, take food from her mouth, use her butt as a pillow and she never does more than watch what they're doing and sometimes heave a big sigh. When she's had enough, she waits for a break in the action and will quietly sulk off to "safety." She never growls, barks, snips, or even gives a dirty look.

The part that makes her indispensible to us is that our Sunny is also VERY protective. She doesn't trust dogs she doesn't know, and they'd better not get too close to her girls. Andy's aunt and uncle had their dog learn that the hard way this summer when she got a little too close to Lilly (sorry again, Kim!) It's actually quite funny, because she seems like such a laid back dog unless someone is "threatening" her family. When Andy's home, she'll do her mandatory bark to inform us someone is here, and then she'll go back to her nap. But when he's not home...watch out strangers. She barks at anyone who comes to the door, won't let them in the house unless I tell her it's okay, and then anxiously waits nearby if it's someone she doesn't know well. When Andy's gone at night, she sleeps at the top of the stairs and doesn't move once unless it's to let me by, though when he's home she lays in the middle of the hallway and ignores us all.

Andy never really believed me about how she changes when he's not here, until recently. Obviously, if he's not here he doesn't see how she acts. A few weeks ago Andy left for work, but couldn't continue because he was feeling sick to his stomach. He drove to our friend's house who he was ride-sharing with, gave him his car and took our friends' truck home. Enter Protective Sunny. It was 5:00 am and dark, Andy had already left and a strange vehicle pulled into the driveway. I woke up to Sunny growling quietly in the hallway. I got up to see what was going on, and she took one look at me and growled more loudly. I could hear that someone was stomping their boots on the porch, but Sunny didn't move until that person reached for the door handle and starting trying to unlock it. The instant Andy got the door open, Sunny raced down the steps, barking fiercely and lunging for the door. Andy realized that she didn't know it was him and quickly flicked on the light and said her name. She instantly stopped, sat down and looked up at him like she was apologizing. Andy said he was certain if he hadn't said her name and turned on the light, she would have bit into him good. He finally realized that she does have that different side to her when he's not home. Good dog.

Sunny is a HUGE part of our family and we wouldn't trade her for the world. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. We love you, Sunny!

Sunny as a puppy and Alayna at 1.5 years old