A boy and his dog

George and Max have a very special relationship.  George loves playing with Max—throwing him his favorite red ball, playing tug of war with his stuffed animals, chasing him around the house.  I think Max has finally realized there is some payoff to these kid-things who invaded his home over three years ago.

In truth Frances and George love both Marshall and Max.  Marshall is just a little more “private” than Max and prefers to slink off to his man cave during the day.  Conversely, Max loves the kids and his sweet side comes out even stronger when they are around. 

George and Max play a lot on those mornings when Frances is in school.



I love this one - they both have the same smile.



 

Frances is eager to join in once she is home for the day.

I feel very lucky that the children are growing up with our first “boys.”  I find that teaching them to be gentle with the dogs (George needs this lesson a bit more than Frances) has taught them to be gentle with a lot of other fragile treasures—flowers, plants, breakables, and most importantly the new babies in our family.  I also see the love in Frances and George’s eyes when they are with Marshall and Max; all four of them have learned to be more tolerant of each other; and it makes me smile to think that they are building memories of their first dog to carry with them through life.  It’s not always easy to have two dogs and two children (and some days I wonder why we do??), but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And no post about the dogs would be complete without a picture (or 3) of Will and Marshall—the other gruesome twosome in the family.

Talk about a boy and his dog!