HAPPY BELATED FIRST BIRTHDAY DUKE!!!!

[Ann Kendig]

Yep, Duke turned a year old on Monday! It was a pretty low key, uneventful day as I had some kind of

flu bug for a couple of days so I camped out on the couch some and didn't get to post his birthday. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better! My faithful pooches kept me company and came up to give me some affection now and then!

I've never had a dog quite like Duke. He is the most affectionate dog I've ever had. He's getting close to 70 lbs. and could easily be a lap dog if I'd let him. When I'm on the computer, he wants to sit on my lap. If I sit on the floor, he wants to sit on my lap. If the boy had arms I'd be in trouble because they'd always be wrapped around me. Sometimes he presses so tightly against me and lays his head on my shoulder and gives wonderful, long "hugs". Sometimes I have to pry him loose. He had a bad habit (which we have almost broken) of "clubbing". If I were laying on the couch or sitting on the floor (on his level) he raises his "arm" and clubs you on the head. Nothing like red claw marks down your face!!! He loves to come up when we're sleeping and rest his head on the bed an inch from your face and gaze at you...for a long time.

Duke loves to watch TV and the digital picture frame. If the TV is off, he looks behind it to see where everyone went (same with the frame). He'll sit in front of the TV (or digital frame) waiting for something to appear, sometimes giving a little whine. Speaking of whining, he is an expert at that (learned it from Sheba). When we play ball or frisbee, he "catches" by letting everything bounce off his head. The boy tries hard but he is soooo uncoordinated. Duke's a jumping fool. How can anyone or anything be that happy??? Hi Mom, your home!....jump, jump, jump. Yeah! Mom talked to me!....jump, jump, jump. I never thought it would be possible to walk through the house in my slippers without Duke attacking them every step I took. He only tripped me a couple times. Another favorite of his was and sometimes still is...Mom has something in her hand, I think I'll snag it and make her chase me. At obedience class we've been working on the "come" command. I cross the room and give him the command. Duke starts out running toward me and realizes the leash is dragging behind him. He always stops and picks up the leash by the handle. He then proceeds to run full speed toward me with one end of the leash in his mouth....tripping over the rest of the leash the whole way. By the time he reaches me he is supposed to stop and sit in front of me. Instead, I must step out of his way so he doesn't plow into me. (The trainer thinks it's funny how he picks up his leash and doesn't let it drag on the floor behind him.) Everyone in class thinks he is hilarious! After taking a long, wet, sloppy drink, Duke always seeks me out to be his napkin. He MUST put his head on my lap to wipe off his beard. If I were to wring out my pants I swear his beard holds at least 2 cups of water. Oh, and he always comes up to me after he eats and burps...then walks away. My husband gets a big laugh out of this. When we took the dogs to the dog beach Duke was ALWAYS up to no good. He constantly ran off. When he was soaking wet he would run up to one person after another and rub his wet body on them to dry off. He'd do this all the way down the beach. Some people laughed and thought he was such a friendly dog...we knew what he was up to! He tried to jump on someone's boat several times until the family's Golden Retriever chased him down and gave him a piece of his mind...and teeth. He made a game of jumping over a lady, at least 3 times, who was laying on the beach trying to sun herself. The dogs he liked to play with the most were the ones that were on leash. He'd get the dogs to chase him and the dog that was chasing him would be dragging the owner behind or Duke would run in circles around the owner, dog would follow and tie owner's legs up with the leash....Have you ever seen the movie Turner and Hooch? Well Duke has never been that bad but I could see him as an actor in a movie...but he wouldn't be acting! :) Ahhh, so many "Dukeisims" so little time.

My Mom, who resides in a nursing home, gets to see my dogs almost every week. She always asks me, though I don't know why, "If you had to let go of one of your dogs which would it be?" Although I would NEVER give one of my guys away I knew which dog I felt closer to...Sheba. She could try your patience as puppies can and will...but NOTHING like Duke. (By the way, I asked my Mom out of all of her kids which one would she give away....Yeah!! She didn't say me!...or anyone else...what a great Mom!) Anyway, I have come to ADORE my Duke. My hair is growing back in from the areas I pulled it out while trying to deal with chewing, snapping, biting, jumping etc. etc. etc. He was one bad boy!!! I love his crazy antics and I LOVE HIM, just as much as Sheba. So, for all of you folks with a "problem doodle" I want you to know...there is hope! It takes lots of patience, consistency, and love with raising a "difficult" child. Hang in there!!!

Duke (and Sheba) were overjoyed when Duke's birthday gifts arrived. He got an Elk antler, femur and knuckle from a place called Venison Joe's. ( Joe was kind enough to throw in the femur and antler for free to see if the dogs liked them...they do!)

Thus ends my tribute to Duke. (Sorry it was so long.) And Duke....WE LOVE YOU YOU BIG HAIRY MONSTER, Happy 1st Birthday!!!!

Here's a link to a video of Duke and Sheba enjoying Duke's Birthday gifts...hopefully it will work.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/video/dukesbirthday-1

Notice Duke's wet beard and if you look hard enough you may see there are a few drops of water on the chair at the bottom of the picture..the rest is already soaked into my jeans.

Same adorable look and head tilt on the picture above.

Look at Duke's expression on the top picture...I'm not kidding when he was a pup he looked like this MOST of the time....he had a major attitude problem! He always looked like he wanted to kick your butt. I have a number of pictures of him sporting this look. Now check out his face in the picture just below this one....so sweet and lovable!

Duke's Birthday gifts...Elk femur, knuckle and antler...Yum! Good boy for sharing with Sheba!

A few memories of Duke....

Oh, and Duke loves his cats, here are a couple of them...Tutti Frutti is the top cat, Twinkie is below.

These cats practically beg Sheba and Duke to chase them. I think the cats secretly love it when I holler at the dogs for chasing them.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUKE! He and Finn sound a lot alike. Glad to hear that the mischief slows down a little anyways. Fantastic pictures.

[Ann Kendig]

We're looking forward to many birthdays to come with Duke! He's such a goofball. Glad you enjoyed the pictures and again, thank you for the nice compliments and Birthday wishes!

[Kathie and the gang]

a few days late, but Happy Birthday Duke. Have a great second year. Winston and Freya

[Kathy Spyker]

Happy 1st Birthday Duke!! He was such a cute puppy and a handsome "Big boy" now =)

[shelly]

AWE! What a cute big boy Duke turned out to be. Happy birthday, Duke!!! Just love your pictures!

[Ann Kendig]

Thank you for all the nice comments ladies! Duke is a definite character! Someday I'm going to post some of the video's of Duke I took in Florida. I checked and I do have it on film of Duke jumping over that lady on the beach. I was only able to catch it once though!

[Anna and Achilles]

Happy Birthday Duke Doodle! You are one handsome dood!

[Barb, Murphy, Emmet, & Hudson]

Ann I LOVED all of this=)) Your dog's are so lucky to have u, and your lucky to have them=)) Sorry to hear u were sick..

[Camilla and Darwin]

Happy Birthday Duke! He is beautiful!

[Rose]

Ann, this is such a wonderful tribute to Duke! Great photos and video! Duke and Blaze sure do have a lot in common! LOL! I'm sorry to hear you were sick and glad you're feeling better. :-)