New Addition

Our family has grown by four paws and 11 pounds!! We adopted a Yorkie/Lhaso Apso mix from a rescue last Saturday and he has fast come to rule the roost. Some of you may remember our black Lab, Duke, who we sadly had to say goodbye to almost a year ago. It's taken me that long to be ready for another dog. And I knew I was only ready for a small-ish dog. I loved Duke to pieces, but he was a beast! The biggest 112 pound baby ever.

When the kids and I saw this little guy at an adoption event, and he was sweet as could be when we took him out to play, I knew we had found a good match. Once they had walked (carried) him around the parking lot and received a thousand wet kisses from him, I knew there was no way he was going back in that cage. Some paperwork and a trip to Pet Smart for a collar and leash and he was ours. 

We went back and forth between the names Denver and Sailor (if you know anything about our football loyalties, these names should make sense!)...but in the end, it was Wyatt's birthday the following day, so we let him make the final decision, and he said Sailor was his favorite.

Sailor was only with the rescue agency two weeks before we found him and they aren't quite sure of his story leading up to when he arrived there. Our best guess is that he's around three years old. Which is great because he doesn't have any puppy tendencies - no chewing, no potty training, no hyperactivity. But because of his tiny size, the kids totally think of him as a puppy! Our other best guess is that a man, or men, weren't very nice to him. Because he barks his head off and growls at Matt and any other men that come to our house. When Matt tries to get down on his level and pet him, Sailor cowers and shakes, and barks some more. (Insert sad, breaking heart face here!) So we are working on that. After some coaxing, Sailor is happy to snuggle up to Matt on the couch or in bed at night - but every day, we have to re-introduce them to get to that point.

Sailor has attached himself to me. He literally follows me everywhere I go. Even to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He always has to be by my side. And while I never used to think I was a little dog person, I have to admit having a lovable, cuddly shadow pulls on your heart strings. He's even sleeping at the foot of our bed (sometimes in the middle of our bed) and I NEVER would have guessed I would be THAT kind of dog person!! 

The kids are over the moon for him. Fighting over who gets to hold the leash when they go on walks - usually Sailor ends up getting three separate walks a day! And no complaints when it comes time to give him a bath or clean up his messes. Overall, we are very happy with our newest addition and are having so much fun giving him all the love he missed out on for awhile.