Classic "staring off into the distance" pose (2019)

Black Lab. Shepherd. Ridgeback.

Today seemed like a good day to talk about Eddie.

Oh, Eddie. Where to begin.

Brad and I got Eddie when Archer was only a few months old. Because there was no time like the present to get a puppy when I was already sleep-deprived and home all the time. What was another small, helpless being that freely poops, whines or cries and is learning to navigate this world right alongside us as new parents?

I can’t say I’d do it all over again.

We went out to visit some puppies at a place in Maple Ridge on a whim. They had a mix breed of puppies – the mom was a Rhodesian Ridgeback and the dad was a black lab crossed with a German Shepherd. We had been living in our home, where we were allowed to have dogs, for a good 6 months at the time. Baby Archer was only getting up once in the night and Brad promised me that he would be the one to get up with the puppy, if we brought one home.

DEAL!

And, so, a couple of weeks before we celebrated Archer’s fourth month earth side, we brought tiny, sweet, cuddly Eddie into our home.

Training Eddie and dealing with his energy has been anything but straightforward. He truly is one-of-a-kind, the loveable fifth member of our family. The kids crawl all over him, hug him and play with him all the time. There has only ever been one incident where he had too much of Archer pulling on his ears and turned to nip at him, hitting Archer’s cheekbone with his big head and leaving a bruise. We had warned Archer that Eddie didn’t like what he was doing, and consider it a learning experience for them both.

There were a couple of recent incidents involving Maverick, his finger and Eddie’s butthole. And then a water gun a few days later. What can I say? If you have read any of my monthly updates, you’ll know what a curious kid Maverick is! Poor Eddie just stood there … I don’t think that Maverick actually touched him, but he got close enough for us to spring to action to stop whatever he was going to do to poor Eddie.

We’re finally getting to the point with Eddie where we recognize how much he feeds off of the energy around him. When we have visitors, he gets extremely hyper and reacts to their presence, but so long as they ignore him while being firm and not allowing him to jump, he can be quite well-behaved. A black lab, shepherd ridgeback cross isn't exactly a small dog.

Brad always says when Eddie is gone we won’t get another dog, but I am whole-heartedly a dog person. And I am home most days …

Never say never,

Anya