When I met Jay, he was a farmer through and through and had the mentality to match (please note, this is a good thing). When it came to animals, his beliefs were that animals were the be outside. He was not a pet man, but they just had a place- outside. Now, when I met him we had 30+ horses at our farm and I had my beloved black lab, Bailey who ...let me just state, had the loveseat to my sofa set as his own domain. Jay and I met at my farm, and since Bailey was with me 24/7, he met Bailey then too. Early on in our dating, Jay was at the house and said "hey, let's go for a ride...I want to take you to show you some land." We started to head out the door and Jay turned and said "Bailey, c'mon." As we are walking out to his truck, I realize that Jay is walking right into a test...a test he has no idea he is about to take. Jay opens the back door and pats his hand on the seat to motion Bailey to sit in the cab of his truck-point for the boyfriend! Bailey NEVER rode in the bed of a truck as he always sat in the cab of mine (yes, we both had farm/work trucks when were dating) and Jay Knight completely scored big that day with that little move whether he knew it or not. Flash forward 10 years later -yes, the man has put up with me for 10 years now -and we have two dogs (two horses and well, you know...a crap load of chickens). Our sweet Bailey passed last year, so we have Pam & Genga in the family. Pam is our sweet little mutt that Jay wanted to take home- they now hate each other- and Genga is the fabulous German Shepherd who I brought into the house (ok, so I am partial). On the day I called him to ask if I could bring Genga home, Jay reluctantly said I could but that she would have to be an outside dog. I agreed (although I hated the idea) but wanted this dog so bad I said I would do it. Now, for the record, Genga has a nice large pen/play area that is pretty sweet and she does spend her time out there when we are at work...she really likes her outdoor time- Jay's pick Pam, well she stays in and pees everywhere, but that is another story. Genga started off sleeping in her pen, but was moved in the house shortly after her arrival due to the weather...it's south Georgia,it's hot! Jay was very reluctant, but didn't fight me...well, I think he probably cursed me many a times, but not to my face so more points for the hubby. Now we are 5 months in to owning Genga- she has her own room, she has the run of the land, she still has her pen (complete with a fan and automatic waterer that Jay installed for her) but she has lots of indoor hours to boot...lots! Every now and then, Jay will say "Kerri, there is a large dog walking through the house" and I reply with "really?" and he just shakes his head. Jay is very cool, he puts up with me, he fought a really good fight with sticking to the "outside dog" rules, but he has let me have my way in a not-so-direct way. I knew I was pushing it, but have I told you that Genga is wonder dog? She doesn't really shed (well, she does, but we addressed that early on in our ownership of her), she is clean (well, she takes showers...but we have to do it when Jay is out of the house as he is not a fan--he does know--that a large hairy German bathes where he does) and she doesn't have accidents. She lets Caroline dress her and they play well so he tolerates that "inside" time too. Now, one thing we (me and Caroline, my partner in crime) do is let Genga in the house in the mornings- after she is out to go potty- to spend some snuggle time with us. This went from just letting her have full run of the house, to now some "in the bed" time with her little person, Caroline. The first time Genga jumped in the bed (for the record, Jay was out of town) we were kind of surprised she did it, but she snuggled with Caroline and we were even more smitted--ok, the "we" being me and Caroline. Caroline and I agreed to keep the snuggle time a secret from daddy as he is on a need-to-know-basis with this sort of information. Well, we were doing really good...until this weekend. Sunday morning, we were all in our room, and Jay gets up to let Genga in. As Genga is eyeballing the jump into the bed, Caroline (God love her) opens up with "daddy, I need to tell you something...when you go to work, Mommy lets Genga in and she jumps in the bed so we can love on her." Knowing I cannot deny it- nor "lie" in front of my child, I brace myself for the ending of what has been a really good stretch of "operation indoor dog". Before I can say anything, Jay leans over and says "I know, baby...the dog hair on my side of the bed has been a dead giveaway for the last few months." Again, bracing myself for what I think is about to come, Jay kisses each of us on the forehead, pats Genga and walks on out...not saying a word.
Now...that is love and I know that my dear sweet hubby truly, truly loves me.
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