Our Newest Family Member

My husband has been trying to talk me into getting a dog since we got married ( 12 years ago). It isn't that I don't like dogs, there has just always been a reason NOT to get one. At first, we lived overseas and didn't know how often we would move. Dogs don't handle overseas flights and moving often as well as cats, so we got a cat.

Then, when we moved back State-side, we lived in base housing with a backyard the size of a matchbox. Okay, not really, but it was really small with no grass- they just poured cement for a patio and fenced around the patio. That was it. Behind the fence was the parking lot, so there was nowhere for the dog to run and play.

Then, when we realized the military didn't plan on moving us from here, we bought a house- with a back yard. But Noah was eighteen months old and I was being selfish and didn't want to have to take care of and clean up after a dog AND a needy baby.

About the time Noah was old enough to not require so much work, we had Zoe and then a repeat of the above paragraph.

Now, Zoe is three-years-old and in preschool. Our neighbors just got a puppy about a month ago and my husband and both of my children love her. They talk about her all the time and like to go over there and play with her. I knew it was coming. My husband started about a dog again. There is also the fact that he will deploy in the winter and be gone for four months. I really would feel safer with an extra set of ears in the house while he is gone. But, I just got my "baby" out the door to preschool and I was adamant that I did NOT want a puppy. They're cute, but I was in no mood to have another thing that whines in the night, tears up things around the house and needs to be potty trained/house-broken.

The compromise was to adopt an adult dog. I liked the idea of rescuing a dog that someone else had given up anyway. My husband had boxers growing up and really wanted one of them, so we decided to go through our local boxer rescue program. We filled out the paperwork, had someone come do a home visit to approve us, our home and our yard to adopt a dog. We were approved and had already found a dog in the online gallery that we thought would be a good fit. Most of the dogs were recommended for children 12 and older but this one said for children three and older. We made an appointment to go meet her this past weekend and drove two hours to meet her. We fell in love and she seemed to love us, so we brought her home with us.

Once we got home, she jumped out of the car and ran the perimeter of our yard and then started hopping and bouncing around like she wanted to play. We threw a ball and she brought it back to us. We asked her to "drop it" and she did. We told her to "sit" and she did. She's a really good dog and has already attached herself to the kids. She gets very excited when they come home from school. She doesn't jump up on people, she just wags her entire butt and licks them to death. She also doesn't get on the furniture.

At bedtime Sunday night, we weren't sure where she was used to sleeping and had showed her the bed in the corner of the family room. She sniffed the bed and came and laid down at my feet while we were watching television, so I suggested we take her dog bed in our room and maybe she would sleep in there. But, we turned off the television and the light and she got up, grabbed her toy and went and curled up on her bed in the corner of the family room and went to sleep. Wow. We didn't hear a peep out of her until the next morning when my alarm went off and I heard her get up and come down the hallway. She peeked into our room a little hesitant and then just came on in and greeted us.

I think we got lucky. This is an awesome dog. She is such a sweetie. So, without further ado, I want to introduce you to Lindy- our 5-year-old new addition to our family:




This is being linked to Wordful Wednesday at Parenting by Dummies.