As I mentioned previously (The Legend of Toonces The Cat), I am a dog person and I always have been. But I have never been a small dog person…that is until I met the infamous Pancake.
It was February 12, 2010 when I received a call from Jenn at work. As she had entered a class room to prepare for a teacher parent conference, she heard whimpering in the corner and they found a small, wet, muddy dog that had been hit by a car and looked as if his leg was broken. A parent took the dog to the vet, and found that besides a hurt leg (which would heal on its own), the dog was healthy and in good spirits just a little hungry.
That is when I got the call. She told me the story and asked if we could take care of him while they looked for the owner. She decided to pull at my heartstrings and told me it looked like my childhood dog Fergie (an English Springer Spaniel). So I caved, and told her do whatever you like…and that night I moved from #1 to #2 (this will be a trend as our family grows).
Now I know what you are thinking, who in the hell names their dog Pancake? Jenn, Axelle and I all picked names. Jenn named him Saint (after the school where she found him), I named him Party, and Axelle named him Pancake (after her favorite American food). So it was settled Saint Party Pancake it is (SPP for short). Now I know what you are thinking, who in the hell names their dog Saint Party Pancake? Exactly we shortened it to Pancake and it seems to fit him like a glove.
We have had so many adventures with Pancake and he has found a place in our hearts (and laps and bed). My favorite being the time my sister came to visit. She had just been around another dog, and Pancake decided to try to get “friendly” with her arm. Jenn & I were shocked because he had never done this before. Then all of the sudden I think Jenn got jealous and she held out her arm and kept calling to Pancake. At the time he didn’t find Jenn quite as inviting.
He is a Pekingese and therefore is bred to protect emperors. He has chosen Jenn & Nolin as the ones he will protect. Therefore when they are sitting on the couch he needs to be by them, and can start giving off his Gremlin growl if he thinks you are trying to attack them.
Now for the hard part…as parents of a newborn, Jenn & I have to decide if Pancake may become a liability and present a potential danger to Nolin. He has shown a few signs of jealousy the last few days and we fear that in his need to protect, Nolin could get hurt unintentionally. Pancake helped to fill a void for both Jenn & I for a long time and has been a great part of our family. I hope it may be able to remain that way, but if not I felt like his story deserved to be told…
Our Modern Family 
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