Oscar the Grouch meets Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I gotta say, most of the time things are pretty sweet around here. By sweet I don't mean like, "Dude,sweet!" but puppies and rainbows kind of sweet.  Wait, on second thought... with two teenage boys, sometimes it is more of the "Dude, sweet!" But, what I mean is, life with 3 kids and 2 dogs is 90% joy, 10% something less than joy.  Those are pretty good stats, I'd say.

Since Rooney came into our lives he has certainly only increased the joy.  Even with all of the trials of puppyhood, I feel as though we are riding out these days with patience and humor. How could moments like these not exponentially increase your happiness quota?

Please note: The Santa jammies and pink bicycle helmet are not necessarily relevant to this discussion, they merely increase the cuteness of this post.  I apologize for the indiscriminate and unabashed use of adorable children and puppies to manipulate the viewing audience.

And normally, even when the adorable scamp manages to slip out the backdoor with his blankie- that is supposed to remain in his crate- my reaction is to grab the camera rather than scold. (I am also even willing to overlook the fact that life with two dogs has left us with a backyard that will never be photographed for Home & Garden unless it is as a cautionary tale). 

But there are days... and here is where the discussion part comes in, because I'm hoping I'm not the only one...

Yes, there are days.. and yesterday was one of those days when this adorable pup, whom I love beyond all reason...

...had all of the behavior, mannerisms and personality of something more like this...

And I, someone who works very hard to maintain a sense of humor in the face of chaos.  Someone who fancies herself a bit of a modern day Mary Poppins, singing included, found herself spitting out words like, "What is wrong with you today!" and unintelligible sounds like, "Aaargh! Grrr! AAACK!" and nary a word about a Spoonful of Sugar or how Supercalafragilistic everything is.

In fact, rather than looking like a put together, slightly uptight, lovely Julie Andrews... I looked more like this:

Please... I know this site is full of true blue Doodle lovers...true blue dog lovers.... The level of dedication, time and affection I see poured out on this site is truly inspiring to me.  And on most days, I am right there with you.  Today, I am right there with you.  But, yesterday...I admit, I was a little grouchy with these furry members of my household.

Please tell me you have those days too. Or, could you at least fib a little and say you do?

P.S. If you could indulge me in one more photo... Reagan is getting really jealous about all the press Rooney receives.  I'm tired of hearing all the "chopped liver" comments and how he's "been around for 8 years and nobody ever wrote a blog about me..."  So, I give you the Old Man himself, our Reagan.

[Carol and Banjo]

Adorable kids and adorable dogs = Adorable Blog!    I used to say the same thing to my kids the same thing I say to Banjo these days....."It's a good thing  you're so darned cute"!

[F, Calla & Luca]

The pictures are grand especially your beautiful daughter and Rooney. But really, wouldn't any self respecting puppy shred images of rivals. Good blog : )

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

My daughter was not entirely comforted by the idea that Rooney was merely acting out of his deep affection for her in a fit of jealousy.  She gave him lots of cuddles this morning though, so she doesn't appear to be holding a grudge.  We will see how long she hangs onto the shreds of her drawing that she currently has preserved in a plastic baggie on her dresser.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh, well then maybe you can convince her that Rooney was just making a puzzle for her to put together. What a clever doodle.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Lori, I have to tell you that I was having a bit of a bad day (Murph tried to attack a roller blader...very ugly scene), but just reading this and seeing these fun, adorable photos, I'm feeling 100% better now.  I can't imagine how it could get any cuter than your daughter in the pink helmet with Rooney...so thanks for the smile and better perspective!

[Robyn, Greg and Snickers]

Oh Lori I feel like I could have written this post. There are days when our Sweet Snickers becomes Mr. Crankypants and when he is cranky WATCH OUT.  Just the other day he stole 3 socks in a 2 minute period, ate part of the plant, grabbed a paper napking and ate part of it ,dragged his bed out of the crate and started humping it, when I told him NO he then proceeded to have the zoomies and barking like he was trying to save little Timmy from the pond. Once that ended he ran upstairs started barking at the front door and then went upstairs and stole you got it 2 more socks-I swear it was like a little kid on a sugar binge! Then he crashed into a big heap and fell asleep, my DH just looked at each other with shell shocked expressions.  Yes they are cute but they do have the devil in them that is for sure!  Mr. Reagan looks very serene and gentlemanly kind of the Prince Phillip of the family and Rooney sounds like the Prince Harry !

[Bonnie and Kona]

This made me laugh out loud! Sounds so familiar!

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I hate to say it... because it seems cruel to take pleasure in someone else's misery... but this made me feel much better! :)  Puppies do have a bit of Jekyll and Hyde in them, don't they?  

And, I tell you, even just 3 years ago we would have laughed heartily at the idea that Reagan is serene and gentlemanly.  We thought he would go from birth to death acting like an unruly puppy! But he finally settled down and now has more gentleman-like qualities than we ever thought he would.  However, he is incredibly food obsessed, so if you bring even a single Cheerio into the equation, all bets are off.

[Robyn, Greg and Snickers]

That is funny about Reagan. Snickers just turned 3 so technically he isn't a puppy but I will never forget what one of our trainers said "oh Goldendoodles they are puppies until 5-7 years old" 

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Jane- I am very sorry to hear you have had a difficult day but glad that Rooney's antics could bring a smile to your face!  I always say that is why we take so many pictures- so we can selectively filter our memories and only remember the good parts!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Reagan is just gorgeous! Love me some Goldens, but the shedding moved us on to Goldendoodles. With regards to the Oscar moments... let me just say it is not rainbows and butterflies here every day! Owen is a handful and somehow we continue to laugh and love the socks off of him. He finds pushing the limits to be a daily exercise. My DH has never been a big dog lover but the doodles have changed him completely into dog-love mushiness. I have always been more than a love dog person...a "need dog" person, and Owen is capable of leading me into severe exasperation. But he does make me laugh every single day. ;o) Hang in there. I am seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. (Kona has always been a mellow charmer so Owen's antics were a big surprise for us all.)

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

A sense of humor is definitely key in dog ownership! But it's good to know that there are rough moments in other dog lover's households.  I mean, heck, I'm not 100% crazy about my kids every second of the day either! ;)  But, as Carol said, they all save themselves with their cuteness!