Thursday, August 12, 2010

Our Newest Family Member


We have a new family member, Alex. My daughter turns 13 next month and when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said "Nothing really, just a puppy". For the longest time I avoided getting a puppy because I know they are a lot of work and I just wasn't in a place in my life to add on extra responsibility, but we are in a new season and the new puppy is a refreshing reminder of that.

The story of how we obtained him is an interesting one. We first checked our local shelter. On the day we went in, we saw a cute poodle mix, but he was not available for adoption because he had just been picked up the day before. We went back on his emancipation date, only to find that he wouldn't be emancipated the next day at noon because he had come in during the night.

So we went back once again. By this time the kids were set on getting this dog. I wasn't feeling him though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was just not right. I filled out the application and was ready to pay for him when one of the workers at the shelter suggested that we play with him a bit longer before we make our final decision. We discussed the process of getting him ready to go one, one of which was having him tested for heartworms. It was then I heard God clearly speaking to me. My prayer was that if he had heartworms, I knew he wasn't the dog for us.

We played with him during the 8 minutes it takes to get his results and sure enough he was positive for heartworms. The kids were devastated. It was a hard choice, but I knew I had to leave him. In my spiritual journey I have learned a very important lesson. It is often hard to follow God, but it's always harder when you don't!

We left and came home and searched the internet and that's where we found Alex. He was only 8 weeks old and the owner was only asking $25 for him. We scheduled a visit and brought him home on Sunday.

We are now in the potty training stages and I am happy to report that he is doing well! Stay tuned for more on our adorable addition.


7 comments:

  1. Congratulations! He is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awwwwwwwwww. Alex is adorable! That's exactly the type of dog I would pick out. Do you know the breed mix? He looks like a german shepherd mixed with...?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, he's a chiuaua, rat terrier mix. He does look like he has a little german shepard in him, but it must be somewhere hidden in his genes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awww, he is so cute! We will be adding a puppy to our family soon too. Congratulations and Happy Birthday to your daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ohhhh he is cute. Remind your daughter that dogs are creatures of habit. Take him to use the bathroom the same time every day. What ever you start he will expect. The place you want him to eat if he can or cannot jump on the furniture.

    He will be so much fun and protect the family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We got a Rat or Jack Russel terrier puppy earlier this year (someone dropped her off with her brother near my parents' house in the country) and she's been a lot of fun and a challenge too in the training department. Hope you enjoy this new chapter :)

    Yolanda, OT (sorry), but I tried to email you at the address you list in the Contact Me section of this blog and it didn't go through. Can't remember what the error was... Anyway, I wanted to email you and ask you some questions about SonLight (we're doing it too). Do you mind emailing me with an address that I can get through on? My email address is strudles 100 at gmail dot com (no spaces of course). Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Hey! Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

-yolanda