We have two children, Alfred John and Augustus Jefferson. Our boys, who are known to most as Fredo and Gus-Gus, are the light of our lives. Gus is our people pleaser, the first to greet you when you visit and if you seem sad or angry, he's going to come sit by you and whimper and wag his tail until he's allowed on your lap to cuddle and give you kisses. Fredo is nuts, if there is a ball in the room then he has to have it and he will bring it to you 457 times to throw it before you get tired of playing fetch and finally put the ball out of sight. Fredo will also talk back to you when you tell him "no." At the dog park, Fredo runs with the cool crowd, tirelessly playing with all the other dogs; however, Gus would much rather spend time with the humans. Both make me smile and they are the absolute most entertaining dogs in the world. I can watch them chase each other through the yard for hours as one steals the toy from the other back-and-forth until my fat boy Gus gives up and comes inside to plop on the couch for a nap.
So since Sarah said my first story was too mushy about Dan, here's one that is mushy about my babies (and well, a little mushy about Dan):
Fredo came first; I adopted him from American Boston Terrier Rescue in August 2005 a mere two weeks before that fateful evening when I met Dan. Fredo is half Boston Terrier and half Blue Healer, he was the cutest little puppy in the whole wide world! He was so well behaved and potty trained in under a week. He was so cute that I was scared someone would steal him and therefore, fully trained him in Russian. If you said “sit” to him, he would cock his head to the side not understanding your request, but utter “see-dyesh” and the pup would sit gently in front of you and wait for his treat.
The first time Dan met Fredo, he was prepared to meet some itty bitty, teenie tiny Yorkie or Chihuahua puppy, his opinion based solely on where I was living at the time (Addison Circle). Dan got over his initial surprise and fell immediately in love with the “mini-healer,” which would be the first of many, many nicknames he’d assign Fredo through the years. At the time they first met, Dan was doing contract work while I was having a tough time handling a puppy and working 50-60 hours per week. It was a match made in heaven! While Dan would be gone for 12 hours or so on the days he had to work, on those off days, he spent his time with Fredo. We taught English commands to Fredo, as that was easier than teaching the Russian commands to Dan, and the boys quickly bonded. I’d come home from a long day at the office to my two boys: both exhausted from playing all day, both ready for me to cook dinner and both happy to see me come through the door … although I was never quite sure which of them was the happier one to see me.
Our days were perfect. I’d make dinner, we’d eat, then Dan would take Fredo on his after-dinner walk while I settled in to watch whatever reality television show that was airing. Some evenings, we’d take Fredo over to the park with a bottle of wine and let him frolic and play while we enjoyed a romantic evening under the stars. As Fredo was falling in love with Dan, Dan was falling in love with me, and I was falling in love with Dan and our new little family. Together, watching Fredo eat his first French fry and play with his first Halloween toy we really were becoming a family. Soon enough, Dan would move in with us and make it all official. Unfortunately, at the same time Dan moved in and changed our lives forever, his job changed as well and he now had a 40 hour work week. Fredo took some time to adjust but he seemed to handle it well as I was still working up the street and able to stop home for lunch to let him out and play.
Now that Fredo had more time to himself in the house; he earned his next two nicknames: the Fredomanian Devil and Fredo bin Laden. I learned quickly that artificial plants and trees were the way to go. A real tree or plant was just too much temptation for a dog that had been trained to lift his leg on trees, he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong, and as Dan assured me, it wasn’t his fault!! Oh that poor xmas tree never knew what was coming. I also learned that blue healers need room to run and lots and lots of exercise to get out all that puppy energy. A normal puppy has a ton of energy, a blue healer puppy can’t sit still … no really, they can’t, we tried but it just never worked. We came home from work and he terrorized Dan, his former best friend. Fredo wanted to play and romp and roam like they used to do but we only had that much time for him on the weekends. We tried our best, took him to the dog park every night after dinner and made sure to let him out again right before bed. Time passed, he calmed slightly but not completely and we had the discussion most parents eventually have: should we have another one?
I wanted to have another puppy, give Fredo a buddy, a comrade, someone to hang out with all the time. Dan agreed, but he thought we should get a house first, with a big yard for the two of them. Fredo was ok with apartment living but he was getting a little tired of the leash life. We got engaged and as our engagement present to Fredo, Dan promised we could get a puppy only if I could find a pup that was the same mix of breeds as our Fredo. It took me about a month of searching and a 5hr drive to Brown County Humane Society (and 6hr drive back), but we found our Gus-Gus. Gus was such an adorable little puppy, with an absolute love for playing hide and seek. We never could find that dumb dog, he was SO tiny, he could literally disappear behind and under anything and everything ... well except for his tail! Gus is a total sweetheart, but sadly, he's not so bright. His tail has a mind of it's own and it is rare that it's not wagging away. The tail gave away his hiding spot every time (and still does today). Gus will disappear and we will go searching through the house to find him and eventually see a blanket or pillow moving on it's own and know that there's our little Gus hiding. The best is how surprised he always is that we found him, his face perks up in amazement and he springs towards us with love and kisses!
And now that I sit here remembering what adorable little pups they were, I'm going to make them their favorite treat from when they were young: homemade peanut butter puppy treats :)
•2 cups whole-wheat flour
•1 tbsp. baking powder
•1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth, Gus-Gus prefers chunky)
•1 cup skim milk
Combine flour and baking powder in one bowl. In a different bowl, mix peanut butter and milk (a fork works best), then add to dry ingredients and mix really well. The first time I made this, I used that natural peanut butter which was hard to mix and I had pockets of flour when I went to roll it out, I wouldn’t suggest using natural peanut butter, good old fashioned Jiff or Peter Pan work just fine (reduced fat works fine too)
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently with your fists. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes … or do the lazy way and just roll it into balls then flatten between your palms. I’m crazy, and I know this, but I like to do shapes for whatever holiday it is so my dogs used to get shamrocks for St. Patty’s Day, stars for July 4th, hearts for Valentine’s Day and Snowmen all winter long.
Bake for 10-15 minutes at 375 on a just-barely greased baking sheet until lightly brown (careful, without all the normal additives and fat, these burn pretty quickly so watch closely)
These are best kept fresh if you store them in a Ziploc baggie or similar, if I leave them out in the treat jar they get stale and the dogs don’t want them anymore
Oh ... if you were wondering what other nicknames Dan has assigned the boys ...
Fredo is no longer the Fredomanian Devil but he does recognize: Fredolicious, Licious, Lisher, Lisher McGrisher, Biggun’, Big boy, Fredo-Frayed (like Flavor-Flav), Nubbin, Twinkle Toes and of course Sweetums
Gus-Gus also goes by the names: Gus, Gusser, Gussy, Gus-Gus Gusserson, Littlin’, Little boy, Tooter, Tootie, Stinky boy, Fat boy and also Sweetums
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