The Orchard Gate Bandits

I’ll never forget the first time that Charlie and Sammy met. They were both still puppies at the time, around five months old. Their puppy energy was off-the-charts and their leashes kept getting unbelievably tangled up as they ran around in circles sniffing and nibbling at each other. My golden retriever Charlie was a feisty little blonde fluff ball, while Sammy was all white with short wiry hair, faint black spots and the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen on a dog. When we met Sammy and his mom, we had not lived in the neighborhood, Orchard Gate, for very long and neither had they. It turned out our houses were just around the corner from each other, and we both admitted that part of the reason we got puppies was to meet new people. It was easy for us to become friends, since we had so much to talk about as fellow new puppy moms. What we didn’t realize at the time was that this was the start of a lifelong friendship, not only between us, but also for our puppies.

Charlie and Sammy continued to meet occasionally while out on their daily walks and they became more and more excited to play together every time. Sammy’s mom and I began to plan puppy play dates at each other’s homes and made frequent trips to the dog park. I had never seen anything like it. Until Charlie met Sammy, I was completely unaware that dogs could have actual best friends, but those boys could not get enough of each other! They became inseparable, crying every time they walked by one another’s houses, wanting to go inside.

So, naturally, when Halloween rolled around, we wanted to dress them up together. We racked our brains, looking through hundreds of costume ideas on the internet. In the end, we could not think of a better plan for these partners-in-crime than to dress them up as doggy prisoners. We dubbed the adorable inmates the Orchard Gate Bandits. We trotted them around that evening, greeting and delighting the trick-or-treaters and their families. Charlie and Sammy lived up to their bandit personas as they preceded to steal not only all of the treats, but also the hearts of everyone in our little neighborhood. The pair of them together was a rare picture of pure friendship and total joy.

Dressing them up together for Halloween was the first of many fun holiday activities we decided to engage in with the dogs. Both boys were born in December, so we decided to have a joint doggy birthday party for them, complete with hats, matching plates, and a dog-friendly cake shaped like a giant bone.

Shortly after that, we took them to visit Santa Cause together in matching puppy Christmas sweaters. Charlie wanted to kiss Santa’s face off, but poor Sammy boy was absolutely terrified of him. Needless-to-say, we didn’t stay long! These two little scoundrels even attended (much-needed) doggy obedience school together, equipped with harnesses that looked like tiny backpacks, which we filled with their favorite treats.

Years have passed since the day our sweet puppies met and became friends, and even though Sammy, his mom, Charlie and I have all since moved away from Orchard Gate, we still travel to see each other as often as we can. We bonded in such a special way because our dogs are like our children to us, and we love the precious relationship they have. As much as we get together for ourselves, it’s more importantly to reunite the best dog-friends, the Orchard Gate bandits, Charlie and Sammy.