A Dog... Finally!

It's official, we have a puppy!  Our kids are in heaven, especially Emma.

It's not that I don't like dogs, I just never wanted one.  I see them as work, one more thing to take care of and pick up after.  For years, I've been digging my heels in the ground, trying to convince my kids that having a dog isn't really all that fabulous.

Emma begged for a dog while I was pregnant with Austin.  I promised her that having a baby would be way better. She stopped asking, but only for awhile. Once Austin was born, she began asking again.  Having a baby brother was great, but Emma just plain loves animals and her desire for a dog only seemed to grow as time passed.

I convinced her that our baby, who was crawling, needed to have his space and I wasn't sure sharing it with a puppy would be the best idea.  Maybe once he started walking we would think about getting a dog.   I didn't realize the mistake I'd made until later.  I vaguely remember her asking when babies walk and I said something about how they walk and talk right around their first birthday.  She hardly said a word about it until the morning of Austin's first birthday.  She came bounding into my room that morning first thing, excited as ever and announced, "  Today is Austin's birthday!  He is going to walk and talk and WE ARE GETTING A DOG!"

Poor thing.  None of that happened.

We kept putting it off.  Last year we got a bunny.  It was an outside pet that was easy to care for.  I thought maybe that would fill the void.

It didn't.

Emma had a dog birthday party and she was a dog for Halloween.  She even began barking (which by the way sounds exactly like a real dog), and she crawled around on all fours.  Often times she made a tail that hung from her backside.  When she played house with her friends she was always the dog.   Once while I was driving I caught a glimpse of her in my rear view mirror, she was hanging her head out the car window and her tongue was sticking out.  She said she just wanted to see what it felt like.

Last Christmas Linsey's friend got a dog for Christmas.  Linsey described how the doorbell rang and her friend answered the door only to find a package on the doorstep.  When she opened it up, out came a darling little puppy!  Emma gasped when she heard the story, "I've had that same dream!"

It wasn't really a choice anymore.  We knew we absolutely had to get a dog.  It was just a matter of finding the right one.

So the search began.

It wasn't easy.  In fact it was quite overwhelming at first but once we narrowed it down and started meeting dogs, it was really fun.  We found this little guy and he was just perfect for our family.

We brought him home and after a family vote named him Milo, but if you ask Austin, he'll tell you it's name is Fluffy.

Here he is just days after we got him.  3 months old.

Milo has a little pen set up in the corner of our downstairs where he spends a lot of his time.   The breeder had him litter box trained which has been amazing!  He prefers to go potty outside, but this keeps us from having problems with accidents.

When we are downstairs, we put up this little gate and Milo can run around and play with the kids.  All of the kitchen and living room have wood floors so it's the perfect set up.  He is really good about sitting by the back door when he wants to go out and I'm grateful the rain doesn't bother him.

Austin is home during the day and loves having a little playmate.  It's been so much fun watching the two of them run around outside together.  Milo is very playful, tolerant, and supper mellow.

I love this picture of him napping by the fireplace.  Oh, the life of a dog.

I must admit, this is one lucky dog!