this morning, as we romped around in the ice in a nearby fenced in area to the flat, i looked at my machiavelli & thought: my god, he is really getting gray. when i adopted him near 8 years ago, he was the size of his head! now, bordering on 65 lbs & playful as ever, it is strange to think of all those great years only exist in my memory (& the collective memories of those who have known us). this boy has been through a lot! from serious & painful mange, to terrible gaping wounds from dogbites, to near death experiences from dehydration due to repetitious bouts with whipworm, machiavelli's personality has never changed! he remains the friendliest & most emotive dog i've ever known. partly it is due to his mixed breed: the golden retriever, german shepherd (& i suspect boxer) mix. he is intelligent, expressive & always want to play. machiavelli is also one of the loudest dogs ever. his barking is never truly pointless. i often joke that he is the howard cosell of any dog park, always eager to bark along or to provide barking commentary to dogs while they play. most dogowners have accepted machiavelli's strange ways. if a dog cannot bark at the dog park, tell me: where can they bark? but i digress. adopting this dog cost me under $100 when we ran into him on our way to dinner & now thousands of dollars later (see above illnesses & imagine all the in between vet visits), i count myself as the luckiest overlord around. i would never trade any of the heartache or pains encountered with raising machiavelli for anything. he has given me more love & good times than i could have ever imagined. there is so much more to come, since i hope he will be around for a long time to come. he is exactly the same as he was when he first came home, except perhaps for some crumudgeny moments. but who doesn't have those days?
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