The Special Love Between a Dog and Child #Woofyeah @pupperoni #tailgatesteak

This is a sponsored post by Pup-Peroni. All opinions are my own.

My husband and I have been married for 26 years and his sons are 27 and 29 and our kids are 11, 16 and 21.  When we met, I had a miniature schnauzer – since then we have never been a day without at least one dog.  There was a time where we had five dogs at once but most of our married lives we have had three at a time – not counting litters of puppies along the way.

In the last year we lost one dog so we now have one – but acquired three horses.  Don’t ask how many animals we would have if we didn’t have to work all day, had unlimited funds and didn’t have to comply with town charters…

Of the five children, four have special needs and the dogs have played a major role in helping to keep their issues stable or in some cases – the dogs we have had were capable of letting us know that we were about to have an issue with one of our children.  The bonds have been strong and deep.  When our youngest daughter was born I always said that one of our weimaraners was not her dog but she was his baby.  He never ever left her side.  We have had a dalmatian that was able to let us know when one of our children was at risk of a diabetic seizure.  We have had another weimaraner that never left my side – not for a second.  If I was sick in bed for 15 hours straight – he never moved a muscle.

This is actually the first time in our married lives that we have had just one dog.  However, she is definitely a dog that loves her family, is extremely devoted and extremely patient with the kids.  She does struggle with socialization of other people or dogs so she gets to be an only “child-dog” for a while.  We dote on her and show her how much she is loved.  My youngest two children have some significant struggles and our dog is almost always able to calm them down.  When the kids get worked up, I tell them how much their dog needs them and they immediately are able to redirect themselves, regulate and switch to more of a caretaking role to meet all the needs or desires our dog has.

I don’t know if we will ever have more than one dog again – our lives are very different now than our first 25 years of marriage.  We travel alot – camping, hiking, flying, equestrian shows, work trips etc… But we will always have one and that one will be treated like a king or queen!

With that love and caretaking comes feeding our dog and fun with toys and snacks.  Xena Lee is actually quite picky but her favorite treat is Pup-Peroni Treats!  As soon as I open a bag she is immediately sitting nearby waiting as patiently as she can for her Pup-Peroni love!  And she deserves every bit of it – she is such a good girl.