On January 4th, 2005, a small puppy was born to a proud mom.  Unfortunately, only a few weeks later, that small puppy was taken away from his mother and was shipped to a pet store.  The good news was that the pet store happened to be located in Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, MI.  The even better news was that my little brother, Justin, happened to work at that mall (Surf City Squeeze) where he made smoothies and other yummy drinks.  On an uneventful evening, Israel and I decided to go visit Justin while he was working and have dinner with him.  (He was still in high school – a big, bad senior wildcat.)  Little did I know that within those few hours that we would spend at the mall, we would visit the pet store, Israel would see a puppy that he wanted, he would beg me to buy it as his birthday present (-even though his birthday had already past a couple weeks earlier and I already got him a present), AND I’D AGREE.  I won’t go into any more detail (because I want to preserve my marriage), but just like that, we came home that self-same day with an adorable, cuddly, needy 2-lb Jack Russell Terrier named Odie.  (The next morning, Israel told me he wanted to change his name, so by that evening, we had changed it to Bentley.)  He was very cute.  (I would post a picture of baby Bentley here, but I’m too lazy to go dig them out.)  But, he kinda looked like these pups:

 
(Now do you see why I couldn’t resist?!)

Well, just last month, Bentley has celebrated his 2nd birthday.  He has grown (~18 lbs more) and matured so much.  He’s learned to potty in the right place, managed to win the trust of 2 cats, and our love and appreciation for him has grown so much since his arrival.  We’d agree that he’s a perfect fit for our family. 
I was trying to think of a nice entry I could write on him.  The first thing that came to mind was Bentley’s tricks.  I taught him a series of tricks and it always amazed me at how brilliant this dog is.  He is a very hyper-active dog, but with a treat in hand, he could literally learn a trick within minutes.  Israel always makes fun of me because whenever people come over for the first time and our attention is focused on the dog, I ask them if they want to see him do his tricks.  (BTW, if any of you have any ideas for tricks, please let me know!  I need help thinking of more things to teach him.)  So anyway, for those of you who have never come over and experienced Bentley’s tricks, here are some pictures (that Israel graciously agreed to take) of Bentley doing his tricks:
       

“Sit”

“Down”

“Shake”

“Stand Up”

“Roll Over”

“High Five”


“Go Home”

“Dance” (more like a twirl)

“Dead Dog”

“Go to your bed”

And I really need to go to bed.  Happy (belated) Birthday to Bentley!  We hope he lives a long, happy life (and then joins us in heaven!  )