Love

George Bennett

Furry friends make life better, don't they?

I brought the pooch into work with me today. I like bringing him when it's quiet and we don't have any shows in house. Hey, if parents can bring their rug rats to work with them, I can bring my dog. I guarantee he's cuter than 90% of your kids.

George Bennett is a good dog & pretty laid back. (Of course he is, he's my dog.) I like to let him run around on the floor of the arena. Because we have carpet down he can tear off in a full sprint after the ball. It's pretty funny actually, like his own personal playground. I used to take him to dog runs but most here in Vegas are dirt - and me being me I can't take a dirty dog. Gross. He gets plenty of exercise with me on my walks though. The summer is going to be brutal on us both. It's up & adam at 6.00a to walk or by 9.00a it'll be 110 degrees. I can handle the heat it but poor GB's little doggie paw pads can't. I refuse to put clothes or dog boots on him. I'm not THAT kind of dog owner.

GB taking a break in the arena

When he's in the office he usually sits on the corner of my desk facing the door. Sometimes he sprawls out in the doorway to see who might be coming around the corner. It's cute actually. I know when he wants to go home because he'll sit right in front of me between my chest and the keyboard. I just rest my head on his back and type around him.

Like most dogs they tend to reflect the personalities of their owners - so in the spirit of full disclosure he likes air conditioning, HBO & Seablue. Yes, my dog eats better than most people. Spare me your judgements about feeding dogs people food. I guarantee my dog is more healthy eating NY Strip bones from Seablue & sake (salmon) sushi from Sumo II than your dog who eats gluten free, organic kibble from some boutique dog store.

About 3 years ago I made the best decision of my life, to date. I adopted George Bennett. My friend at work, Yvette, emailed around pics of 2 baby Shih Tzu puppies that her mom just delivered. Of course they were cute, puppies always are. I toyed around with the idea of getting one. Everyone said it was a bad idea. "You can't have a dog with your lifestyle," they said. "You work 16 hours a day and then go out at night." Only one person said it was a good idea - Trubes. She was the only one who didn't hesitate. And she was right. Dead on.

Hey, get off my keyboard.

After about a week of hemming & hawing over the email of the puppies I went over to Yvette's to see them. There was a black & white one and a liver & white one. I knew right away if I was going to get one it would be the black & white guy. He was not interested in me whatsoever. He didn't want to leave the vent where the AC was coming out. My kind of dog; choose comfort over distraction. But I was smart. I didn't make the decision there. I left and went home to think about it for a week. I did excel spreadsheets on my budget, I make a pros & cons list, I researched the breed to make sure I could train him to go on a puppy pad for those days I had to be at work for 18 hours. In the end all of it was just an exercise in futility to make myself feel better about my decision that I already made 2 weeks ago. I knew the minute I saw his picture come across my email he was the dog for me.

GB at the park

My friend Trubes helped me name him. He went without a name for about 10 days after I brought him home. People suggested cutesy names like Oreo & Panda. Clearly they don't know me because I'm not a cutesy kind of girl. I love the name George and he looks like one to me so that seemed an easy choice. But I also wanted a name that had some sort of meaning to me too. Trubes suggested I name him Bennett after Tony Bennett, arguably my favorite standard singer. I couldn't name my dog Tony Bennett - now that would be weird - so I landed on George Bennett. It totally suits him and I can't imagine his name as anything else. 

Adopting George Bennett is by far the best thing I've ever done. Every day when I leave for work I tell him, "I Love you. I'm grateful for you. You make me very happy." I do. I am. He does.