Happy Fourth of July!

It is a beautiful and sunny day, and I am taking pause in my Celebration of The Independence Day, to play this fun game!!! Many thanks to Frankie Furter for dreaming up this wonderful way for us all to get to know each other better!

You may or may not have read the story of my brother's name... "The" Cool Hand Luke. And if so, I must, very first thing, clarify... I am not named after the dog who chased Cool Hand Luke [in the movie]. And besides, his name was Blue.

And mine is Bleu! 

Clearly very different, as it is a whole other language!

First, a little background... 

I am a rescue dog who was surrendered, at the age of 5, to Golden Retriever Rescue of Houston by a very loving family. I arrived at GRRH with 4 pounds of medical records and virtually no hair on my back. They and their vets weren't able to figure out what my issues were, and they were facing very expensive medical issues for one of their two legged children... so they did the best they knew to do, out of love for me.

I was terrified with the transition. I trembled and quivered and was a nervous wreck... so much so that my Aunt Madison slept on the bathroom floor with me for many nights, as I tried to come to terms with my new environment.

Then... I was tested for every allergy under the sun, and my only allergy is dairy... so everyone was still a bit confused as to why I was losing my hair... until they truly got to know me.

And what we have all come to discover is this... I'm a sensitive boy. I have many issues, but most of them involve 'change'... and by issues, I mean I don't like it at all. I have routines, and I don't like things out of place.

I didn't start losing my hair until my loving family... in which I was the center of the universe... began to have children. Their love for me never faded, but things were definitely WAY different.

Now back to the Name Game...

My first Mom was a student of the French language, and she named me after her favorite word and color. I had the name for five years, and did I mention that I don't like change???

So, Bleu, I have remained! I also have many other names like Big Boy and... gosh, this name makes me dance like a silly boy... TootyToot! How I love to be called TootyToot!

Happy Fourth of July, Everybody!!!