Fire Side Chats with the Dogs

There are several little quirks that we have in the Zimmerman household. Most of them you would judge us for, so I'll keep those stories to myself. But there is one little oddity that we do that is quite obvious to the naked eye, so I might as well just get it out there in the open. If you were to have dinner at our house, it wouldn't take you long to figure out :We talk FOR our dogs. Even stranger, We talk THROUGH our dogs.

Yeah, that's right. I'll be honest enough to say that we've been known to have a full conversation through our dogs. Almost using them as little puppets

Here's a common example so you can kind of get the picture:

Casey: Sam, tell your mama that we want to stay in bed longer... we are sleepy and she needs to leave us alone. It's too early.
Sam: Grunts in agreement with his dad
Kristi: Sam, you have slept in long enough and if you don't get out of bed now, we are going to be late for church. Quit your whining
Nobs: <In the background, wagging his tail in agreement> Yeah, guys - get out of bed - there is so much running and playing to do and we're burning daylight. Get up, Get up, Get uuuuuuppppppp
Casey and Sam: More grunting

Yes, there is never an argument in our house that we can't avoid by just using silly voices and talking through the dogs in order to avoid being real jerks towards one another. It's kind of fun for us. I'm not sure if a psychiatrist would approve, but oh well.

Not only do we talk through our dogs, we also provide a healthy bit of commentary for them. If Sam is looking off in the distant we'll always make up what he is thinking. Profound things like : "I really wish someone would pay attention to how cute I am being" or "If this idiot brother of mine doesn't stop shoving his toy in my face, I'm going to hide that toy where he will never, ever find it again. Ever."

You get the picture.

Needless to say, our dogs provide a lot of entertainment in our homes. Next time you come over, don't expect a movie or board game. We'll just watch the dogs and put on a show for you. Please don't put us in a psych ward - we promise it's just that we love them so much. We don't actually BELIEVE they feel the way that we display on their behalf.

Or do we?

I'll tell ya what - I'll just show you some cute pictures of the dogs and you pretend you never read this.

The handsome little men getting their Christmas pictures taken

Hilarious because it looks like Sam scared Nobs big time by just moving. You see? he's jumpy like his mom



"Seriously dad, you better throw the ball for me for like 20 minutes when we get done"



"He better not be eating my food over there"

"I wonder which book I'll read tonight..."

Such a stoic man