My Buddy Zeke

In the fall of 2005 my daughter and I started visiting the Humane Society regularly in search of the perfect  dog.  My large retriever mix, Sugar had died several months before and we were ready for a new dog in our lives.  This time we decided we would try to find a small lap type dog.  We spent several weeks looking at all of the homeless dogs.  It was kind of heartbreaking but none of them really seemed like the dog I wanted.   Finally one afternoon, after searching through the small dog room without any success, we decided to go into the large dog kennel just to look.  My daughter immediately called me over to a cage where two small dogs were housed together.  One was a cute pug looking dog, that said it wasn't available and the other was a cute little rust colored guy that was labeled as a Pomeranian.  The minute we set eyes on this guy we knew he was the one.  I immediately grabbed his slip, before the other family lurking nearby could and took it to the desk.  Several dollars later, he was not a cheap pound puppy, he was officially ours.  We weren't able to take him home for a couple days because he needed to be neutered.

This adorable little approximately 6 month old guy became known as Zeke.  My husband named him that.  I'm not quite sure why the name he chose was Zeke but we went with it.

 Here's a picture of Zeke shortly after we got him home.  He's in his new bed and chewing on a nummy treat, one of many, many treats he now insists on multiple times a day.
Zeke soon became a beloved member of our family and Mommy's little buddy.  He got along with our cats and was friendly towards everyone!
 He is very smart and quickly learned multiple tricks, that my daughters taught him.  Sit, lie down, roll over, dance, shake, high-five, speak and how to wrap everyone, especially Dad, around his little claw.
Zeke also learned to do a move that we call squiggle.  He'll lie on his tummy with his back paws straight out behind him and then he'll kind of do pushups with his front paws.  This means that he wants to play with whomever he's squiggling at.  Unfortunately, most animals, that he squiggles at, do not like it.  They either run away in terror or look at him wondering what the heck he's doing.

A couple things Zeke does not like are car rides and me leaving the house.  The minute I get my going out of the house shoes on and grab my purse he's whining and barking.  Sometimes he'll pick up toys or his bed and whip my legs with them.  Sometimes another animal gets in the way and gets whipped with said bed or toy.  When I come home, whether I've been gone for hours or just a couple minutes, he'll be so excited you'd think he'd hadn't seen me for days.  It does make me feel good that he misses me.

As I've said before, Zeke loves treats!  When we walk through the house, him usually leading the way, he'll stop in front of the treat drawer and look longingly at it.  If I make homemade soup and have  ham bones in it I'll give him a little one and as soon as he's done with it he'll run back to the kitchen and drop it on the floor hoping he can trade the old one for a brand new one.

He is not perfect.  He begs at the table, only from my husband because he can't say no.  *sigh*  He jumps on visitors legs when they come and go and of course he barks as only a small dog can.

I can easily overlook any imperfections he has because he's my sweetie.  He's always there for me.  I don't want to think of him getting older or worse, so I try my best not to.  I will enjoy every minute I have with him, even when he goes into a barking fit while I'm trying to watch my favorite show, or talk on the phone or take a recliner nap.  Or when he runs in soaking wet from his walk with Dad and jumps up onto my lap to show me how wet he is.  Those are the things that make me smile and love him all the more.

Zeke loves lying in the sun!

Taking a rest with his kitty friend, Weasley.

Looking sharp after a trip to the groomer!