So, last time Neal and I watched the niece dogs, it was a total debacle. Utter, complete, cataclysmic disaster. Let me explain

It was pre-Ferris and Simone and when we still rented a house on the west side of town. We stayed at my brother’s house for a week with their two dogs, who were 40-pound puppies at the time. Neal and I worked long hours, and the dogs were NOT happy about being in the crate all day. I can’t even begin to explain how tough it was. I had a mental breakdown by Wednesday from lack of sleep and bawled my eyes out. Neal spent the last two nights by himself so I could get a good night’s sleep.

It was such a disaster that Tad avoided asking us to watch them for about two years. Seriously.

Well, he asked us if we could watch them this Friday night so they could attend the 30th birthday party of his best friend. I really couldn’t say no. I had no good excuse, plus I really think I need to learn how to watch my brother’s freaking dogs for at least one night. I put on a brave face and said that we would do it.

And I’m happy to say, this time went peachy. They are older now. They sleep more. They listen better. In fact, they were kind of boring, HAHA.

Mom and Dad live so close, so they brought us pizza at Tad and Amanda’s house. Neal and I gave them a Guitar Hero concert. My Dad LOVES the dogs and when they kept whining, he knew exactly what they wanted – cuddles.

After Mom and Dad left, the dogs pretty much passed out.

Oh, I forgot to say, the gray dog is Bella, and she’s a Weimaraner. Meadow, the spotted one, is a German short-haired pointer. Here’s the deal with these dogs, if you can’t tell in the pictures — THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL. You walk these dogs (although, I really can’t because they pull my arm off) around the neighborhood and drivers almost crash staring at them. They are truly beautiful dogs. And super sweet. All they want is to be with you. My only issue is that they don’t realize they are 60 pounds. Meadow always wants in your lap, or lie on top of you. Well, when she does that to me, I can’t breathe, HAHA. But I’d rather her be overly friendly than mean.

OK, so the next morning, I staged a little photo shoot.

For more dog pictures, you can visit my Meadow and Bella album on Flickr. (Amanda, you can order these from that site, I believe, if you want to).

Anyway, I’m so happy it went well. Tad and Amanda do a lot for us, so I think we should be able to help them out. Even if we only watched them one night, HAHA. Hey, baby steps….

ETA: Amanda informed me in her comment below that the dogs are 75 to 80 pounds each. Geez! No wonder I can’t breathe when they lie on me! HAHA!