There are many things in this world that can wear a man down. Too many wars, not enough love, to many things breaking around us, and too many things to list in a blog.

This year my wife wanted a dog for Christmas. She didn't want just any old dog. She didn't want a lab or a dachshund or a Chihuahua or a poodle. She wanted a Lonnnnnng Dog.

Now for some a wiener dog or a dachshund would bring lots of joy, but that's not they type of lonnnnnng dog that my wife can enjoy.

She needed a dog with ears that hang down almost to his paws, and paws as big soft squishy baseballs. She wanted droopy eyes and droopy jowls and really droopy everything, even a tail.

Our quest to find a lonnnnnng Dog led us far and wide, many an hour spent combing the country side. We traveled around in our mini van in tow, with our youngest baby daughter Mya strapped in to her seat in search of a lonnnnnng Dog to warm my wife's feet.

This story has a happy ending, but maybe not for me. I'll give you a hint, my wife is now happy but that happiness came at a price because lonnnnnng Dog joy cannot be found on the cheap.

I'm not talking about dollars, or pesos or pounds, I'm talking about commitment and patience and time, things not to easy to be bought with a dime.

You see on our journey, you might call it a campaign, we picked up something else, something we hadn't entertained. It started last weekend on one of our trips to find a lonnnnnng Dog. We came up short, last Saturday on our search. We'd missed a lonnnnnng Dog by just a few hours, a lonnnnnng Dog named Marty that tugged at my wife's heart.

Dejected and tired we came home that night, no lonnnnnng Dog for my wife, no puppy for the kids. The very next day my wife took a drive with our kids and came home two hours later with a surprise in the van. It wasn't a lonnnnnng Dog, but it was a dog. It was a Beagle and the Beagle was lost.

We shelter dogs in our neighborhood, usually for a few hours and sometimes over night, when they get lost, they arrive at our door. Sometimes hungry, sometimes thirsty, sometimes excited and sometimes scared, usually bewildered and a little nervous.

We live near a busy road and our house is one of the la st, homes in line before reaching that road. If we don't bring them inside, they'll face the gauntlet of fast moving traffic, which isn't a good thing.

So we took the Beagle in hoping to return it to some hopeful family looking for their dog. But no one came looking, no one hung up signs and the poor little Beagle it seemed may have been deserted. We checked with the vet, no chip in its skin, no dog tags, and no word from animal control about calls from worried owners.

My wife got a sad look in her face, one that said, "she's a cute beagle but I want a lonnnnnng Dog instead."

So she kept looking for a lonnnnnng Dog and finally today. She found that lonnnnnng Dog and brought him home to stay. His name was Neville but, we'll call him Ruben. He's a Bassett Hound puppy about a year old. Saved by the Basset Hound Rescue league and now adopted by our family.

We have cheese dogs and Rubens a cheese. We have a dog named Cheddar, a Corgy-dachshund mutt that belongs to my son. Cheddars the spitting image of my son's grandfather's dog, and his name is Colby, and he's a Yellow Bassador with a great big large head.

Now we have Ruben and Cheddar but we have more than we thought for we also have Bleu, the lost Beagle pup and that makes three. And you see that's where my lament begins as I have three wonderful kids, Zoe, Corbin and Mya, but now I have three dogs as well.

Three and Three makes six and that's a lot of small ones to care for throughout the year. But they are all cute as can be and the Beagle too, she's a smart little dog that fit right in from her first hour here.

I'd like to get her back to her family if she has one, but she may have roamed to far or been abandoned and so we'll look out for her as long as it takes.

But three dogs is a lot, and now my home office is full. Of dogs playing with toys, and balls and chew toys, squeaking and all.

I am taking pictures to paste in this blog, but my camera is dying its old and worn hard. It came as a freebie, when I bought my wife a Christmas present several years ago. I bought her a camera for her photography work and the shop threw in a rebate card for a $100, which went to a small digital camera that was two seasons out of date back then.

It has served me well, but it takes shaky pictures on a good day let alone on days when I've typed too much and drank too much caffeine at which point, its all but hopeless for me to get in a good shot.

Not long ago, I made a video with the camera for a PayPerPost op that needed at least 60 seconds of my mug on screen. But my poor old dying camera, just couldn't manage to record more than 57 seconds and so my effort, went without reward. I created the write up but it just wasn't enough.

Some day I hope to get a better digital camera to help me aspire to creating great digital photography. You see I need the help, of good technology and more features and clarity and time on the card. All those things that help you do more with the moment, more with your time, because now I have six little souls that need my attention and every second counts.

I need the picture right, "Right Now Daddy!" my daughter will say. I need it quick and fast and without missing a shot! I need a new camera and I write this you see in part because I would write it anyway, but in part because HP is sponsoring an opportunity for me to win a new camera, which would be fantastic.

With it I can capture and record everything with my 3 kids and three dogs throughout the weeks and months and years to come. Fifty seven seconds will be too short and shaky pictures are never a good last resort. So this gift will keep on giving, just as Ruben's gift of a family from my wife and my gift to her of a Lonnnnnng Dog and our gift to our family of many great moments to come.

I want something clear and crisp and sharp to share with my loved ones, my friends and my readers to help everyone see this wonderful growing family, complete now with my Wife's lonnnnnng Dog, his head resting in her lap, living his own dream come true. Rescued and adopted in to a loving family with plenty of playmates and company and hands to rub ears, and backs and bellies the perfect cure for The lonnnnnng Dog Blues.