Name: Carrie Houtz

Pet's Name: Bandit

Age: 5 (almost 6)

Breed: Mini-goldendoodle

Gender: Male

Bandit was a Christmas-morning surprise. We got him from a breeder outside Columbus—a veteran who worked with dogs in the military. We picked him up on Christmas Eve, kept him hidden, and surprised the kids on Christmas morning.

All the puppies in the litter had names starting with the letter "B." No one had any better suggestions.

We think Bandit was sent from heaven. He comforts us when we are sad, doesn’t leave our side if we are sick or injured, entertains us when we are bored, and makes us laugh.

He isn’t the smartest, but he makes up for it with cuteness.

He loves socks. He will steal them out of drawers, laundry baskets, bathrooms, bedrooms, and off your feet if he can. We are impressed at how many he can fit in his mouth at one time. Once, we caught him with 12 socks at one time. He will steal food off the kitchen table. Entire submarine sandwiches, hamburgers, and especially donuts have gone missing.

Lucky for us, he is totally self-sufficient. He has a doggy door but still prefers that we open doors for him. He won’t play fetch; he wants us to chase him. He loves walks, pizza, and beer. He likes all the holidays, but Christmas is, of course, his favorite.

October. He is almost 6 years old.

He knows our routines. He knows the order of the bedroom doors to visit in the morning to get the kids up for school.

Now that we have him, we could not imagine our lives without him.

He barks at anyone walking by on what he thinks is his sidewalk, but he is the friendliest. Anyone is welcome to visit him. He’s always out in the backyard, and he welcomes belly rubs.