Family Picture
For years we had talked about it: getting a family picture of all of the roommates. Finally, about a year ago, we did it. All of the roommates dressed in sweater-vests and posed very seriously on the staircase for our "Family Portrait". And, of course, Harley was there with us!
The Day I Got Harley (the full drama version!)
I researched dogs for about 3 months before I ended up getting Harley. I grew up with small shih tzu's, but fell in love with big dogs while on my mission in Texas. I knew I wanted an affectionate dog, that was very friendly, but still wanted to wrestle and play as a big dog does. After months of research, I decided I was going to get a Boxer - even though I really had never known any beforehand.
I went to several places, and decided to get my dog from Animial Kingdom in the mall. This store brought their dogs in from controlled-breeding states, and pre-screened their dogs for diseases and any future health conditions that they possibly could. Then, they sold their dogs for an outrageous $1600.
One Thursday after work, I was at Animal Kingdom in Superstition Springs Mall. I found the cutest little brindle Boxer, and just fell in love with him right away. I wasn't sure that I was quite ready yet, so the lady from the store told me to go home and think about it, and come back the next day if I wanted to purchase the pup - assuring me he wasn't going anywhere.
I thought about the pup all night long, and called the store first thing to let them know I was going to take him home that day after work. The lady apologized, and told me that the pup sold to a family just a few minutes after I had left! She felt terrible (as she should have!) and immediately called around trying to find a Boxer for me. By the time she found one, it was closing time, but she told me to show up at Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix right when the opened the next day.
I called the store in PV Mall relentlessly, asking them to hold the pup, but they said they were not allowed to. So, 8am Saturday morning, with 3 of my friends, we scoured the mall looking for Animial Kingdom. We finally found it about 8:15, and I bolted to the back where the pups were. I found the Boxer sitting in his cage, but right at that moment I saw one of the employees take the dog out and hand him over to a family who instantly fell in love with him.
There was no way I was letting this happen again! I searched for an employee and told them I was the guy bugging them ALL night about this dog. I finally found one of the ladies I had spoken with on the phone. She went over to the family and pulled the dog out of their arms and said "I'm sorry, but this dog has been sold". Needless to say, the family was really upset and didn't want to give the dog up. I grabbed the dog and after about 10 seconds of getting to know him, I paid for Harley and took him home.
Ok, so maybe it was a little harsh, but I knew Harley had to come home with me! Sorry to that other family...
I went to several places, and decided to get my dog from Animial Kingdom in the mall. This store brought their dogs in from controlled-breeding states, and pre-screened their dogs for diseases and any future health conditions that they possibly could. Then, they sold their dogs for an outrageous $1600.
One Thursday after work, I was at Animal Kingdom in Superstition Springs Mall. I found the cutest little brindle Boxer, and just fell in love with him right away. I wasn't sure that I was quite ready yet, so the lady from the store told me to go home and think about it, and come back the next day if I wanted to purchase the pup - assuring me he wasn't going anywhere.
I thought about the pup all night long, and called the store first thing to let them know I was going to take him home that day after work. The lady apologized, and told me that the pup sold to a family just a few minutes after I had left! She felt terrible (as she should have!) and immediately called around trying to find a Boxer for me. By the time she found one, it was closing time, but she told me to show up at Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix right when the opened the next day.
I called the store in PV Mall relentlessly, asking them to hold the pup, but they said they were not allowed to. So, 8am Saturday morning, with 3 of my friends, we scoured the mall looking for Animial Kingdom. We finally found it about 8:15, and I bolted to the back where the pups were. I found the Boxer sitting in his cage, but right at that moment I saw one of the employees take the dog out and hand him over to a family who instantly fell in love with him.
There was no way I was letting this happen again! I searched for an employee and told them I was the guy bugging them ALL night about this dog. I finally found one of the ladies I had spoken with on the phone. She went over to the family and pulled the dog out of their arms and said "I'm sorry, but this dog has been sold". Needless to say, the family was really upset and didn't want to give the dog up. I grabbed the dog and after about 10 seconds of getting to know him, I paid for Harley and took him home.
Ok, so maybe it was a little harsh, but I knew Harley had to come home with me! Sorry to that other family...
Harley's Name
The day I got Harley, I had 3 friends with me: James, Nicole, and Brandy. When I bought him, I also bought a Harley Davidson black spiked collar (since he was a tough dog). As we were driving home, the 4 of us were discussing what I should name him. All the names I suggested were shot down - and finally the 3 of them decided that no matter what I wanted to name him, they were going to call him Harley, after his collar. The name stuck of course!
the Move
When I first got Harley, I was living in my first house. When he was only about 8 months old, my roommates and I moved about 2 miles away, on Thanksgiving weekend. Well, this of course freaked Harley out because he only knew HIS house and HIS territory. I left Harley at the new house and went to Shay and Melissa's for Thanksgiving dinner, and when I returned, Harley was nowhere to be found. Immediately, many of Harley's friends went out looking for him (even though it was Thanksgiving day) - all with no luck. As you can assume I was freaking out about it - until we Melissa called me. Melissa's cleaning lady, who lived across the street from my old house, called her and said she saw Harley jumping the fence into the backyard. Harley had found his way home (he knew the way because of the walks he had been on)...but he crossed a Freeway and Val Vista just to get home.
Jumping the Fence!!!
The day Harley learned to jump my 6' block wall fence still amazes me. He was a mere 5 months old and no more than 30 pounds.
Some friends and I made a fire in our firepit in our courtyard and were relaxing at night...meanwhile Harley was left all alone in the house. Of course he had to be the life of the party, so when he realized we were all out front, he decided to jump the fence and join us in the courtyard. At first I thought maybe someone had let him out, so I put him back in the house. But only a few minutes later, he went out the doggie door, around to the side of the house, and jumped onto the wall - just in time for me to catch him on the other side!
From then on we had a pretty tough time keeping him the backyard when he decided it was time to go out and play.
Some friends and I made a fire in our firepit in our courtyard and were relaxing at night...meanwhile Harley was left all alone in the house. Of course he had to be the life of the party, so when he realized we were all out front, he decided to jump the fence and join us in the courtyard. At first I thought maybe someone had let him out, so I put him back in the house. But only a few minutes later, he went out the doggie door, around to the side of the house, and jumped onto the wall - just in time for me to catch him on the other side!
From then on we had a pretty tough time keeping him the backyard when he decided it was time to go out and play.
Harley and Leslie
Harley would always sleep on the other side of my King bed. A few months ago, Leslie was staying with me and decided to kick Harley out of his spot, and took the other side of the bed. Well, apparantly he didn't like that too much because Harley opened my bedroom door in the middle of the night, and crawled into bed right inbetween us. At one point, he crawled right on top of Leslie and rested his head right on her chest, so that when she woke up - she saw Harley staring right at her! We were sure that Harley was not too happy with Leslie infringing on his space!
Tyler & Harley
A few years ago, my brother-in-law Mike, and 5 of my neices and nephews were staying with me and my roommates for about a week. One of the funniest things we did was sit and watch Tyler go WWF with Harley for what seemed like hours. They would roll all over the floor, both drooling like crazy :-) That night after we put Tyler to sleep we him and Harley cuddled up together in bed.
Wrestling
Harley loved to wrestle. Most of the roommates and guys who would come over would wrestle with him, so he assumed many times if a guy came over - they were there to brawl. He would literally "box" you and threw some mean punches with his front paws (no mercy). He could go for a while wrestling with you, but was instantly your buddy as soon as the fight was over.
Life of the Party
Whenever we would have a party or get-together at our house, Harley used to roam free and was typically the center of the attention. If you were sitting on the floor, you were in his territory and that meant you were supposed to be loving him.
Briggy
Even though Harley weighed more than 80 pounds and had a limitless supply of energy, he was very good around kids and controlled his excitement. 2-year-old Brigham, who in his first meetings with Harley, would climb up his dad, screaming all the way up. But one day Briggy came to visit the house for a couple hours, and warmed up quickly to Harley. Then, almost every time I saw Briggy after that, he would always ask me "Chance, where's Carly?" Eventually "Carly" turned into "Holly". The day after Harley died we asked Briggy where he was, and he responded "He's with Heavenly Father."
Visitors
Harley used to sit right in front of the two glass doors in the dining room, and scope out the neighborhood. Or, he would chill out on the trampoline in the backyard and "keep watch" and protect the house. Whenever anyone came over to the house, whether it was a friend or just the FedEx guy, Harley thought they were there to see him. He would shake his butt all over the place and try his hardest to not jump all over you...even though he really wanted to. Even before he said HI to you sometimes he would run frantically around the house looking for a ball or toy so you could play with him....getting very frustrated when he wasn't able to find something immediately.
Racing
Whenever you would walk anywhere near the stairs, Harley would assume you were racing him upstairs. He was always 'competitive' and had to win every time. Sometimes too he would get to the top, stand on his toes, and peek over the 'bridge' down at you in the family room. And when you threw the ball for Harley to chase, he would always have to time it just right because he would slide all over the place on the tile...a talent he took a while to perfect.
Tricks
Harley learned quite a few tricks. Other than the usual "sit", "stand", and "shake", he also learned "hi-5", "rollover" and "play dead". The coolest one tho was when Spencer taught him "cuddles" - which he eventually did even without request...Harley would literally back himself up to you and sit straight up on his hind legs so you could scratch his belly for him.
Harley Proof
We have had to Harley-proof our house. Since he learned to open doors using the lever-door nobs, we had to replace them all with the round style. He also learned that when he wants fresh, cold water, all he has to do is hit the refrigerator's water dispensor with his paw.
Harley's Words
Some of the english words Harley recognized were "Good Doggie" (a fabric bone Spencer bought him), "Kitties" (from when he used to chase the cats at shay's house, "Cookie", and the ever popular "Walk". Since Harley didn't have a tail to wag, he would shake his whole butt when got really excited.
Balloons
Harley used to be scared of balloons because they seemed to move by themselves or when he got close to them and breathed on them. After a while he would have enough courage to play with them...and he would walk around the house with the stem of the balloon in his mouth.
the Truck
When Harley would ride with me in my Truck, I would usually let him in my door, and he would climb between the seats and into the backseat (except when he tried to ride shotgun). One day Mom came over and Harley decided to jump into her single-cab Ranger. Harley jumped in and tried effortless to squeeze between her seats to find the backseat...but he just couldn't figure out how to get back there!
Harley's Frog
Back when I used to be able to give Harley stuffed animals (after he was a couple of years old they wouldn't last more than about 5 minutes) we gave him a green frog to play with. For a while he would carry it around with him (see the pix) but eventually he tore it apart...he would walk around the house with just one of the legs sticking out of his mouth....we all thought it was kinda demented but cute at the same time.
Tennis-Ball Tree
In my first little house I had, one of Harley's favorite toys was his tennis ball. A few months later when I moved to another house, we had a few orange trees in the backyard. Harley was stoked one day when he discovered we had a Tennis-Ball Tree in the backyard! I wasn't too excited tho cuz he used to bring them inside the house and try to play with them...
New Roommate
Just a few months ago our roommate Jake moved in and was temporarily staying in our loft. That first night he moved in, Harley crawled right into bed with him...
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