His Master's Voice

I know I've carried on a bit about Scruffy the dog.

He's a charmer, and a handful and an all around good dog. He came into our lives with big paw prints to fill.

His predecessor, Henry Two-Poos was an awesome dog. He pre-dated me in He-Why-Thinks-Blogs_Are-Stupid's life. Henry took to Billy immediately, which was a real bonus because before Billy, Henry was truly our child. Hairy, stinky... and our child. We travelled together, cried together, moved house (quite a few times) together. When Henry died, a little bit of all of us died too.

Henry Two-Poos

Billy was literally half the kid he was before without Henry. It took the grown ups a while, emotionally, to turn our minds around to a new dog, but we managed. And so, we got Scruffy.

Scruffy - Day 1 at our house

Billy has become Scruffy's voice. When we ask Scruffy if he'd like dinner, a tiny gruff voice says, 'Res, I would rike my dinna'. When we jump in the car after a run at the dog beach, and I ask, 'Was that fun?' A voice from somewhere between me and the dog says, 'Res, I did. I ruv de dog beets!'

When Billy is frustrated, amazingly, Scruffy is too. We suddenly find out, in no uncertain terms that he thinks dogs should be allowed on couches. When Billy is bored, suddenly Scruffy is telling us that we should go to the park. Incredibly, the dog also has a taste for McDonalds, a dislike for a regimented bedtime and a deep seated desire to go to the zoo a lot.

This morning we were curled up in bed chatting. Like every morning, once Scruffy heard Billy's voice, he picked up his favourite toy and brought it in to the bedroom. He's a huge dog, who can rest his giant head on the edge of a king sized mattress from a standing position.

Billy looked at Scruffy, the love peeking through the hair flopping over his eyes, and said, 'I think Scruffy loves me.' 'How do you know?', I asked.

'Look at him, Mummy,' he replied, 'He looks like he loves me.'

I looked. And Billy was right. Anyone could see it.

And in case I didn't see it, a little voice said, 'I ruv you, Billy.'

Scruffy - 2 years old today