Chester Manley ... the world's greatest dog

Since Mom supports my blog entries and tells me that I'm a good writer (although I think it's debatable), she gave me an assignment. To write about Chester. Well, I'm just going to come out and say it. This is extremely difficult for me. When I write a new post, it's normally about things that are on my mind, my thoughts that just won't escape my head. Sometimes my posts are practically pointless, and sometimes I really believe in them. Chester Manley is obviously someONE I could write about all day, but it's difficult to. What do I write about? Do I write about how he still sleeps with Mom and Dad? Do I write about his permanent position of security and guest greeter? What about his love for swimming? Or how about how he hates when no one is paying attention to him?

Here is some background information about Chester's beginning. As many of you know, my Mom grew up with a fear of animals. She hated them, was terrified of them, and refused to let the family get a dog. We warmed her up to many fish when I was younger, then branched out to the two rabbits, Chippy and Dippy. After moving to Coto, Dippy died shortly after. And then came talk about getting a dog. Paulette, Mom's BFF, told her about a breeder in Mission Viejo. A few weeks prior to that conversation, my family and I watched the Disney movie, The Kid. In it, the "kid" starts looking for "Chester, the world's greatest dog!" Clearly, we all thought it was a brilliant name.

So the day finally came when we went to visit the new litter of labs at the breeder's house. All the week-old pups were squirming and crying, although all of them were extremely cute. But there was Chester. Lyss and I knew it was him. You may find it hard to believe, but he was the quiet one back in those days. Mom had been hesitant from the very moment she saw him. She didn't want to hold him. She would touch him only for a second. But, we found him and we loved him and knew we had to take him home. We would visit him often and watched him grow up until the day we could take him home. I swear, Chester wasn't the only one scared in the car when driving home. Mom, I'm sure, was freaking out. We finally arrived home and showed Chester around - where he was allowed to, that is. There were rules when he came home: no going upstairs, no carpet, tile only, must potty outside in the side yard, must stay in the doggy apartment when he sleeps, etc.

Well, a few months later, needless to say, Chester ran the household. He was on the carpets, he was upstairs, he was in our beds, he was everywhere. It took him about two years to calm down and behave like a gentleman, but he got it down. Most surprisingly, Chester had a best friend. Mom. In fact, it was Mom who gave him his middle name, Manley. He, to this day, follows her around everywhere. And I must say, Mom is Chester's favorite cuddle partner; they spoon.

So what else can I tell you about Chester? Well, lets see. Without him, my family and I probably would have gone crazy and killed each other. Well, maybe not killed each other, but pretty darn near. Everyone knows I've had a rough run with my teenage years, with school, with friends and boyfriends. And you also know that when I was going through my rough run, I was also forcing my parents to go through a rough run with me as well. Wonderful. But can I just tell you how many arguments have always had smiles and laughter? Well, I just told you. Chester Manley has saved my ass so many times! He doesn't like when people raise their voices in anger, he doesn't like sadness, he doesn't like frustration, he only likes happy. So he walks into a room of red faces and the red faces leave the room feeling much better; less frustrated and angry. There have been multiple times when I have curled up in bed in tears over some stupid boy and Chester will crawl right into bed with me and paw me. What a pal. He reduces the tensions in life. Well, most of the time.

There have been times when he enhances tension. Like when he decides he's going to take you for a walk, or when he fools you into thinking he needs to go potty but instead races to the pool for an unauthorized swim; or when he starts talkin' trash to you when you're not paying attention to him or when he sits at the dinner table with you and "asks" for food. But I can always guarantee that at the end of the day, you will be smiling and laughing at him because he has his big ol' tongue hanging out his mouth while sitting in front of you with his paw on your knee.

He is non-judgmental. It doesn't matter what my hair looks like or if I have make up on. He doesn't care if I stuff my face with Golden Spoon because chances are, he wants some, too. He doesn't care if I watch television all day or cry during a chick flick and he certainly doesn't mind morning breath. As far as I'm concerned, he sounds like the perfect boyfriend!

So who is Chester Manley? He is the unconditional lover, the best friend, the Mama's boy, Dad's son, Lyss and I's little brother, Dakota's boyfriend, the security guard, the guest greeter, the swimmer, the retriever, the reliever, the walker, the talker, the cuddler, the grass-eater, the big dummy, the doh-doh doggy, Cheddar Pants, lover-doodies and everything else far and few between.

Chester Manley simply is, the world's greatest dog.