A dog named Josh

There once was a man.

This man had many, many beautiful girls.

And two small, unmanly wiener dogs.

This man longed for a real dog; a man's dog.  This man wanted a dog to take camping and hunting and   to train (rather than spoil rotten, which is what happened to the two small dogs).

Enter a dog named Josh.

Josh happened into our lives quite by accident.

He's a man's dog, that's for sure.  And such a good dog already.  Loves his kennel.  Is already getting the idea of potty training.  And is so, so lovable.

Josh is named after Gary Paulsen's favorite dog.  Our man read the book, "My Life in Dog Years" aloud to Avery when she was a babe.  And the story that stuck with him the most was the one about Josh, the dog who saved Gary Paulsen's life.  And thus began the longing.  And the inspiration for the namesake.

The original Josh

The day we met Gary Paulsen, author and Iditarod racer

There is some question as to our sanity.  Three kids under the age of 6, a cat, and now three dogs.  But Josh fits into our circus quite well and, while we may be crazy, we're also incredibly blessed.

Our girls came to help pick Josh out.  Ree squealed in ear-splitting tones every time a puppy looked at her. Excitement?  We think so.  Avery wanted a girl dog so bad.  But this is daddy's dog and so a boy it would be.  Kate can't say the "j" sound or the "sh" sound very well, so she prefers to call him "Oscar's brother", which is much easier to say.

We love little Josh.  And I'm pretty sure this is fair play, given the princess games and pink that this man's man is surrounded by.

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