Where Would We Be Without Facebook?

Without Facebook, I would not know that today is National Dog Day and I would have missed the opportunity to talk about my favorite canine. That would have been sad. Thank you, Facebook, you really had my back.

Rocking Rowdie von Mylastname came to us on Christmas morning, 2006.

The kids were completely surprised and thrilled beyond belief. It remains one of my favorite Christmas memories of all time.

Rowdie quickly became the center of attention and was doted upon by every member of the household, including our old cat, Gilligan. Those two were buddies until the day Gilligan died.

The kids took responsibility for Rowdie and I think that having him has been a great experience in putting the needs of another living creature before their own; that's a really valuable lesson to learn.

Rowdie will be nine in November. It has been a pleasure to watch him grow up with the kids and I am hoping for a lot more years with him. After all, there aren't many dogs that will sled down a snowy hill or gladly jump on a tube to be pulled across a lake.

We got lucky with that pup.