Dear Smelly, I'm sorry that I call you smelly, but the name fits because...well...you have bad breath. I love you, but it's true. That's beside the point, though. The point of writing you this letter is to tell you that I love you and you're the best dog ever even though you can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

I think the best part about you is that you're always down to snuggle, even though sometimes your version of snuggling means basically sitting on top of me. Now this would be totally acceptable if you were a much smaller dog, but you're a chunky little pit bull, boxer mix.

I don't mind all that much though because you give me that look and I just completely melt. You know exactly what look I'm talking about also, this one:

To talk about the pit bull thing, I just want to address very quickly the stereotype about you being this vicious dog that attacks everything that you see. Unless this includes chasing squirrels up trees, then it's completely wrong.

Yes, you are a mix, but this doesn't change the fact that sometimes we can't bring you places because people are deathly afraid of you when they hear you are a pit bull. I'm so sorry that you were labeled with this name of pure terror, but when people meet you they know that you are nothing like what they have heard through the media.

I am a strong believer in the fact that dogs are what you raise them to be. If you raise ANY type of dog to be a fighter or bait, then they will act this way until they are shown that they don't have to fight for their lives every day. When that dog is shown even the slightest bit of love, they will reciprocate it back.

Enough about the rumors though because I don't want to make you upset. That day that we went to pick you out at Thomas J. O'Connell in Springfield was one of the best days of my life. We walked around looking for the right dog to fit our home and none of them seemed like the one. Then I walked over to you because you had jumped up on the window to see who was walking around.

The minute that I saw you, I fell in love. It was a wrap from there on out. You were our dog and always will be, no matter how many times you escape through the fence and try to run away because you're chasing squirrels.

When we first got you we still had Oscar and you were always so gentle with him when he was here because you knew how old frail that he was. Losing him was the most devastating thing to ever happen to me, but you made it a lot easier by always being there when I needed to cry.

For all that you have done for our family, I thank you. I could not be more grateful to how sweet and loving you have been, even in your puppy days when all you wanted to do was eat my shoes (especially my uggs which are now missing a button and the string broke.)

I love you Olive and miss you when I'm here at Westfield, but I'll be home soon.