Trooper Jacob Alexander Tidd-Cutlip

Happy 7th Birthday to the world's best bassett hound!!

Today's blog post is going to be all about Trooper in honor of his birthday.

He has brought me so much joy, anxiety, stress, sadness and happiness. Here is just a few major things we have been through together....

1.) College graduation

2.) First time living on my own

3.) Lost his BFF (RIP Zeus)

4.) Made two new BFF's (Mo and Ryder!)

5.) Will moving in with us

6.) A proposal (on his birthday 3 years ago!)

7.) An Iraq deployment for 7 months

8.) Became an uncle (x3)

9.) Wedding

10.) Became a brother

It's Trooper's world, we all just live in it. Let's start from the beginning shall we!?

On December 23, 2004 Will made me come over to his house so he can "show" me something. I will never forget walking in his house and him leading me straight to his bathroom. There sat the world's cutest bassett hound. Will introduced me to him as "Jethro" aka Trooper Jacob Alexander Tidd-Cutlip. He was just laying on a blankie waiting to meet his mommy. I immediately picked him up and loved on him...I still do it to this day.

I took him back to my parents house to show off the best gift I could ever imagine. I will never forget my mom's face when she saw "Jethro". She looked peeved/in love. She lectured us both on why I shouldn't have a dog in college. But we didn't listen...obviously...and boy am I glad I didn't listen this time.

He was so small. In fact, my mom had to cut a tube sock to put on him to keep him warm. He shivered all the time he was so cold. See, she loved him from the beginning...don't EVER let her fool you! That Christmas he went EVERYWHERE with me. We took him to Parkersbug to meet my sister-in-law's family, he went to all the Christmas Eve functions, etc. We were a match made in heaven.

We eventually went back to Morgantown and things got kind of hairy. I quickly learned it was hard to have a dog and maintain a social life. But we made it work. He just became a "college dog". He went to parties, had sleepovers with my friends, went on "bye, bye's" constantly. He tasted his first beer at his "aunt" Trish's house, I locked him in the car at Blockbuster with his Christmas sweater on. (When I called AAA I told them I locked my child in the car so they would get there faster. They weren't too pleased when they saw he was a furry child). He got into the trash more times than I can count and got into alot of things he shouldn't have (a year's worth of birth control-that was a hard one to explain to my doctor!). He even spent a summer with his Grammy and Grandy while I interned in DC (he claims he loved that summer, but wasn't fond of getting fixed). But we made it and we graduated from WVU. I say "we" because it took the both of us to get through college!

The only dog I know that LOVES his dog bed

After college I got a job in DC. I literally loaded up my car with my belongings and Trooper and I headed on our way to conquer a new city and life. He was my best friend in a city where I knew nobody.

After months of long distance dating, Trooper's dad moved to DC with us. He thought life was over as he knew it since he had to share his side of the bed. Yes, he sleeps in the bed, under the covers, with his head on my pillow most of the time. After almost a year of living with us living together he helped his dad propose to me on his birthday 3 years ago. It was perfect.

Since he couldn't be at the wedding, I kept him with me the whole time!

Then he hit rock bottom when his daddy left for a 7 month deployment in Iraq. He was so heart broken that he literally made himself sick. He was having seizures, vomitting, not playing with toys, etc. He went to the doctor and got a ton of tests run and then couldn't figure out what was exactly wrong with him. Finally, they referred me to a place called the "Hope Center" as kind of a last resort. We made an appointment and it happened to fall on a day when Will was just back from Iraq. We went to our appointment and the receptionist thought we were in the wrong place because Trooper was so hyper and excited (obviously not sick!). They took him to the back to check him out and we could hear him howling and carrying on. We looked at each other and said "the old Trooper was back." $1400 later, no diagnosis other than a broken heart. He has been fine since.

Playing with his cousin Mo at Uncle Matt's house

In the last 3 months I have seen Trooper become a big brother. It's something he is still trying to get used to, but he gets better everyday. He trys to act like he could care less, but he does. But mostly, he loves all things that come with having a sister-i.e.) the milk! Because of that, he doesn't think she is that bad.

It's hardwork babysitting

I'm not sure if he is babysitting or waiting on a free minute to snag the bottle?

Protecting his sister-it was short lived.

In the last 7 years, we have experienced more together than most dog/owner. And I couldn't imagine life with out him. I hope one day Harper will be so lucky to have a Trooper of her own.

Happy Birthday Buddy! Here is to 107 more years of joy, anxiety, stress, sadness and happiness!

Birthday cake for the birthday boy

A new stuffed animal

His Grammy made sure he was nice and warm at a recent stay at her house

Dead asleep on the couch...he isn't spoiled or anything...

It's Trooper's world we all just live in it....