An Ever changing family
I come from a large family. As I mentioned in recent post, I have two brothers and five sisters and we are very close and see each other loads, which is great. I wouldn't have it any other way to be honest. There is never a dull moment with a family that size as I'm sure you can imagine. It's not quite Cheaper by the dozen but it's not far off now either!
I met my wife at the age of 21, although she did have to wait a few years for the wedding ring! My family then changed, now we were husband and wife and set about starting our own family and we were lucky enough to fall pregnant pretty quickly. We are and were very much aware that many people struggle, especially in this modern world, where careers and circumstances see people starting their families later and later.
The four legged family
So we were finished with babies or so we thought. We were finished with babies of the human variety, but were about to begin or canine family.
My wife has wanted a dog for years, but due to our working lives and average sized back garden, we never went ahead and got one over the years.
Shortly after we moved home to the West Coast of Ireland, my wife's birthday was coming up, so I said I'd buy here a puppy that she always wanted, so Coco joined the family here at chez Ablaze.
Yes, I'm biased, but isn't she a gorgeous little thing. Now we were up to Dad, Mam, 3 boys, 1 dog and things were getting busy, but we were all in love with our little puppy Coco who has a gorgeous personality.
It turns out though that my wife, before receiving her lovely puppy from me was also thinking of life with a puppy and had signed up to adopt a puppy on a rehoming website and around one year after Coco came into our lives, another four legged friend was about to enter our lives. Introducing Coco.
That's right, our rescue dog was also called Coco, I mean what are the feckin chances!! Here she is with her delightfully cute underbite and larger than life personality. We changed her name to Loco to avoid the crazy misunderstandings that would ensue otherwise.
Now we were up to Dad, Mam, 3 boys and 2 dogs and our house is a haven of activity from dusk till dawn! Here the two besties Coco and Loco are together.
The Coco and Loco Photoshoot
Again I'm biased, but look at these little beauties posing for a few photos in our house. They are such an important part of the family now and our boys love them to bits. Often after an argument with their brothers or a telling off from Mammy or Daddy, we will find the boys with their beloved dogs getting a few licks and bringing their mood back up. I'd recommend dogs and pets to every family, especially when you have children who will form a gorgeous bond with them.
Chasing around the garden
We're lucky enough to have a decent sized garden, which is ideal for the dogs for running around, playing chase and play fighting. Here they are out the back garden doing what they love best.
In conclusion
If you have a young family and you've been thinking about getting a dog or a pet, but aren't sure, just do it. Buy the dog, adopt the dog, whatever the case may be. They are a great addition to any family and can help your kids to learn about responsibilities, like cleaning up dog poo, walking them, closing the gates in the morning or evening to keep them in. Then you've got the love between the kids and the dogs which is also fantastic.
Our two loonies are definitely besties at this stage. It's hard to believe we've only had Loco for around four months, as she is well a truly part of the clan now and it's hard to imagine life without her.
These photos are all my own
