Meet our pupper, Opie Bowman. He’s got me wrapped around his fluffy paw, but I’ve got to tell you that it wasn’t always that way (in fact, we had a love-hate dynamic to our relationship for 6 of the 12 months my now husband and I were dating).
You see, before I was in the picture it was just Tate and Opie. A true boys club. So when I came along, it was suddenly a competition, Alex vs. Opie, for Tate’s time and attention. Except that I didn’t realize I was in this competition until I was in over my head. For our third date I went to Tate’s house and met Opie-Dopie. He was somewhat welcoming, but very apprehensive of the strange new lady that sat a little too close to Tate on the leather couch.
Have you ever heard that Christian dating expression, “be sure to save room for the Holy Spirit”? Well in our case we had to save space for the Holy Spirit and Opie, because he was always in between us. It didn’t matter if we were trying to snuggle and watch the Office or if we were FaceTiming and trying to grab some quality time while juggling long distance– Opie had an uncanny ability to make his presence known!
This all started to change after we got engaged and I was around quite a bit more often. Our relationship became a lot less sassy and much more affectionate. We now have our things that we do together, like 3-4 mile morning runs or Starbucks visits (I order him a “puppicino” which is a little cup of whipped cream).
He’s truly our fur baby (and he’s spoiled enough to fit that description!).
SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT OPIE
- His love for attention. He’s way more motivated by playtime or a walk than food (although we did just find out that his love for Chick-fil-A fries and nuggets is unparalleled).
- He’s a total softie (in personality and poodle fluffiness). He’ll walk around like the king of the world, but if we encounter two dogs on a walk that are both sniffing him at the same time, he starts to shut down. My personal favorite was a week ago when I was working from home in the morning. I heard him barking like crazy, so I went to the living room to see what he was “defending” us from (usually it’s a FedEx worker or the occasional plumber). I looked outside and saw nothing unusual except a bright yellow Pedigree dog food bag in our mulch. *sigh*
He’s also the best at morning cuddles (he likes to lay on his back between us in the morning; it’s like snuggling a warm sherpa ) - His energy. He’s 2 ½ years old and that puppy definitely shows in his energy level. If he feels that he hasn’t been played with enough, he’ll resort to stealing our socks and having us chase him for them (lest we suffer the consequence of him destroying them).
- His SASS. Like I just mentioned, he doesn’t have a problem with destroying our socks if it means that he can get us to play with him. Also, he definitely slaps me with his paw every time I blow air into his thick forehead hair.
- He’s photogenic (as you’ll see here shortly) and it’s my favorite thing. Also, I know I am biased, but when it comes to golden doodles he is cute.
- His loyalty. They say pets take on the characteristics of their owners, and I’m very confident that Opie’s extreme loyalty is heightened by his close relationship with Tate (the most loyal person I know). Opie spends the day by my side whenever I work from home (typically laying at my feet or on the futon in my office). Everytime we come home after being away (whether it be 30 minutes or a full work day), he’s as excited as I would be if I won the lottery, eagerly welcoming us home with kisses, twirling in circles and (sometimes) standing on his back two legs and jumping up and down.
So there you have it: a summary of our little Opie, the third member of the Bowman family. Keep scrolling to enjoy a few bonus photos of this cutie.
Photo by Becca Louise Photography 
Photo by Becca Louise Photography 
