Booger Face & Jackie Jack

On June 15, 2008, I met Hana at the local animal shelter. I was looking for a small dog. She is not a small dog, but the minute I saw her, I started crying. She was the only dog that wasn’t barking and she came right up to me. No one knew if she was potty trained so I didn’t take her home that day. I didn’t think I would have the time or expertise to potty train a dog. I couldn’t get her off my mind though. The next day I went back to the animal shelter on my lunch hour, took her for a short walk and decided to take her home. I named her Hana Sunshine. Hana means happiness in Japanese. She wasn’t reliably potty trained, but I was already in love with her and kept her anyway.

Hana is very sweet and loves to snuggle. She loves to lift her paw up so that you can hold it. She’ll also lick you to death if you let her. Hana is very delicate and is very much a lady. That is until you take her outside. Then she’s a holy terror. She wants to sniff everything and she pulls like crazy on her leash. She is also an escape artist and has gotten out of her harness on many occasions to chase after rabbits. Chasing after her is no fun let me tell you.

When I adopted Hana, I knew that I eventually wanted to get her a brother. On August 8, 2008 I got an email from a friend telling me about a dog that needed a home. A friend of hers needed to re-home him, because there was an incident with her roommate’s cat. Lets not talk about the cat… Jackson is an Airedale Terrier mix. On August 16th, Hana and I went to pick him up. It’s been crazy ever since.

Jackson is very laid back and is wonderful on a leash. He’s got one ear that sticks up and one that flops down. If you put your arms around him, he’ll get this wide eyed dear caught in the highlights look. He’ll let you hug him, but he always looks surprised when you do. Like most males, when he wants attention he wants it immediately. He’s not very gentle about demanding your attention either. In the mornings he likes to wake me up by thumping me on the chest. This is his way of telling me to love on him.

They are a handful, but they’re mine and I love them very much. You probably want them now, but the answer is no. You can’t have them.