We previously had another dog named Byron that we loved dearly and had for a long time. He was a Pyrenees mix. When he died, we missed having a dog and started looking for adoptions. We talked to a lady at Valley Hills Animal Rescue who spoke with us for a while to find out what kind of dog we were looking for. She said she didn’t know of one at the time but would call us back if she found a dog that seemed like a match. She ended up calling us back on the same day about Cully! We went to meet him, and he was very energetic and sweet! We got him in October of 2022.

 

Cully loves to travel! Whenever we’re going to go somewhere and plan to take him, we place his leash next to the door and he knows that means he gets to come. He then will sit right by the leash until we’re ready to go. If we take too long, he’ll lie down until it’s time to leave!

 

He’s a really good dog, but he has eaten a few things he shouldn’t have. He once ate the middle out of a sheet cake Debby was planning to take somewhere. He also managed to eat an entire pound of bacon that was sitting on the countertop! We’ve learned to keep things out of his reach, and we now have a "Cully shelf" where we put things we want out of his reach.

He likes the security, attention, and abundant affection we give him. He loves that he can count on two square meals a day, has a set routine, and gets to express himself as the dog he is. When we pet him, he’ll often rest his paw on us to pet us back. Cully is also a big cuddle bug and sleeps with us in our bed. He thinks he’s a lap dog, but he’s too big!

 

There’s a lot that makes Cully unique. He talks to us when he wants things and is very vocal. If he isn’t getting the attention he wants, he’ll moan and groan until we love on him. Cully will also bark and sing along as Debby plays the piano! Some drums were playing at a Christmas parade, and Cully barked when the drums came by too. 

When he’s in a crowd of excited, cheering people, Cully will bark to join in. He will try to warn of things too. When kids in masks kept coming to our homes trick-or-treating, Cully barked to warn us of the strangers and to let him back in the house!

 

Cully knows how to stand upward on his hind legs, sit, and lie down. We’ve also been able to teach him how to take treats with a soft mouth and catch popcorn in the air. Cully is known for eating from people’s hands at parties and cleaning the floor of anything that might fall off a plate. He also likes to eat ice cream from a spoon!

 

Cully makes us laugh at least once a day. Sometimes he will grab sticks from the backyard and try to take them up our deck stairs. If the stick is too wide, it will bounce off the rails when he tries to go up! He’s learned to grab smaller sticks.

Cully is also transactional. He will grab something that he thinks we find valuable and will show it to us, but he won’t give it to us unless we give him something in return. Once he grabbed one of Jim’s socks in exchange for treats!