chase and oscar

I honestly never wanted a dog – let alone two! But Chase and Oscar have stolen my heart and now I can’t imagine my life without them.

Matt got Chase when he was just a pup (they were both just pups) while he was studying abroad in China. I know… who gets a dog while they’re living on the other side of the ocean for less than a year? And furthermore, who has nice enough parents to go pick up this dog at the airport in Toronto because Matt had to take a separate flight?! When we talk about all of the stuff Matt had to do to get Chase to Canada (get him a passport, move him to Shanghai for a mandatory week prior to flying, pay for his flight…) I’m still in disbelief. By the time I came into Chase’s life, Matt had him very well trained and had taught him lots of impressive tricks.

Baby Chase in Nanjing, China.

Chase’s passport photo.

One of the tricks he’s famous for – and he got to eat all the pretzels…

After we’d been dating for about a year, Matt started talking about wanting a Beagle to take hunting and I adamantly said no every time he’d bring it up. But one day on our way from Toronto to the Valley, Matt made an unexpected (to me) detour to go see some newborn Beagles. Call me weak if you must, but as soon as I saw them I wanted them all! How could I not?! It was a cruel trick of Matt to play, but he knew it would work. A couple of months later Oscar was ours and he was a HANDFUL to say the least.

Baby Oscar or “Ozzy”, as we like to call him.

Chase and Ozzy getting to know each other.

Chase didn’t really care for Oscar initially (hard to say if he currently does), but it’s cute how Oscar likes to be close Chase. He definitely doesn’t respect Chase’s personal space – as evidenced in the photo below. He’ll snuggle up against him on the couch and after Chase growls a couple of times, it’s fine.

Ozzy likes to snuggle – Chase, not so much.

While they may be tough to deal with sometimes, and make vacuuming a daily requirement (not to say it gets done every day, but it is definitely required!) – these two pups have my heart. And as excited as they are when Matt comes home from work, I know they know they need me and love me. And it doesn’t hurt that I’m generous with the dog treats.

Trying to take engagement photos with these two proved to be a challenge!