Dog

We got one!

She's an 18-month-old Bassett mix that we found at our local animal shelter. We had been looking for many weeks, checking shelter websites and stalking Craigslist, and praying that if God wanted us to have a dog He would make it very clear. She caught my eye at the shelter and when I saw that her information said that she was good with children and babies I thought we should meet her. A few days later we got a phone call that our application had been approved, and Eric picked her up after work!

Her name was Sookie and she was a surrender. She's such a sweetheart it makes me wonder what her previous owner's circumstances were that they had to get rid of her. Since we're not really into the whole vampire thing we changed her name to Sophie.

She loves Eric and thinks she is his lap dog.

 

Sometimes they take naps together.

She is really good with the girls. She even slept with the Boogie one night. I went in to check on them around 4:30 in the morning and poor Boogie was curled up in one corner -- she'd kicked the covers off and Sophie was laying on them. A coworker had a crate that was the perfect size so now she gets to sleep in there.

Peabody thought it was soooo fun to play in the crate. She also will go up to the dog, offer her hand to be licked, and then say, "ewwwww."

Sophie is a good dog, and smart too. Even after just several days she has picked up on a few commands and knows some of the things she is allowed and not allowed to do. She was very anxious when left alone at first -- we had to gate her in the kitchen at night and when we left. The first night she paced and cried all night and we ended up sleeping on the couch with her for a few nights after that. I'm very thankful for that crate -- it was very nice to be able to sleep in my own bed all last night! She still barks and cries when we leave but we don't have to hear that since we aren't around, and I'm not concerned about her getting into anything anymore.

I've had a bit of a difficult time adjusting to dog ownership. For whatever reason it has really stressed me out and made me very anxious. Every day I'm a little bit better but I never expected to feel this way when we finally got the dog that we've talked for years about getting! I'm very glad we didn't go the puppy route this time. I didn't think I'd be up for all of the work that goes with a puppy, and now I know for sure that I can't handle that right now. Maybe some day when the kids are bigger and can help. Anyway, with God's help we are working through the initial adjustment period, and it truly seems that He has blessed us with the makings of a wonderful family pet.