Zayde, Howie, Maxwell, Murphy??

How difficult is it to name a puppy?  Well, when there are lots of people giving you a suggestion, each one sounds good until the next one.  I mean, it's like picking something from a menu.  I quietly freak out when I go to a restaurant that has so many choices, their menu fills up several pages.  My ADD kicks in and I am overwhelmed by what to choose.  And what happens is that I usually choose what I've chosen before, so what a waste of time that was, to go through each page.  I  think I've finally found the name I will use for my new puppy - Howie.  My dad likes that one, and that's the one my mom can remember.  When I named him Murphy, she kept forgetting what it was and was walking around saying, "Mar...Mer...Mr...." and I would have to interject, "Murphy, mom.  It's Murphy."  Well, for some reason "Howie" she can remember, so Howie it is.  Danny and I came up with "Zayde" when we drove home after picking him up somewhere near Ocala.  It was a long drive and we had a great conversation going up, and a puppy-naming brainstorm on the way back.  "Zayde" means grandpa in Yiddish and we both thought he looked like an "old soul" so that was the reason for "Zayde."  However, when I got home, everyone said, "Zayde??  That's stupid!"  Ok, after a lot of arguing and reasoning, I relented and Howie it is.

Howie has settled right in and has stopped whining for the most part.  I'm sure he missed his mom and brothers and sisters the first few nights, but I bought him a kennel and put a bed in there and he retreats to his little house by himself.  I leave the door to the kennel open in case he has to pee, and there are puppy pads on the floor next to his kennel.  In the early morning, he wakes up and whines on my side of the bed until I reach down and pick him up.  Then he wants his tummy rubbed and demands my full attention until he wants "down."

My parents have taken a real liking to Howie, which is good.  And Shanti loves him.  She follows him all around and plays with him until he's pooped, then he retreats to his house.  Last night they went to my brother's house and Howie just moped around here whining, looking for Shanti.  Today, Shanti started school, so he will be bored until she comes home.

Here is a picture of Howie at about 7 weeks.  He will be 9 weeks on April 14.  It says "Dakota" in the corner because that's what his owner named him in the beginning.  I like "Dakota" but there are too many syllables.  I like two syllable names because you can yell or call them easier.  "HOW-IE, come over here now!" is better than "DA-KO-TA, come over here now!"  It takes too much time to yell the three syllables.  And now I'm drifting off into a subject I'm not well versed in because I hated English Grammar in school, so let's just get back on track.  Here's his picture:

He is a long-haired, miniature Dachshund, and oh-so-cute.  He will only get to be about 7-8 pounds, just like Kita. 

I love animals, and especially dogs.  They are loyal and give you unconditional love no matter what.  I think we could learn a lot from dogs, in particular.  Giving love with no strings attached - just because. 

On a greater scale, it's the same unconditional love Jesus showed us by dying on the cross.  No matter who we are, no matter what we do - He suffered and died for every single one of us, and yet most of us are not even aware of that, or much less care.  We wear crosses on our necks or on our dashboards, but do we really understand what that means?  I think not.  He is not just a symbol hanging on a cross.  He is so much more, and yet few of us ever reach deeper to find out who He is all about.  That's truly a shame.  A waste of a lifetime.  A waste of eternity, in fact...