Lessons From a Dog

After reading 6 books on how to raise the perfect puppy, I realize I'm probably as lost as I was when I first started reading. The one thing I think we have accomplished is we have made some pretty amazing memories because of what having a puppy has forced us to do!

One thing is watching my boys, love on this dog and on each other. This picture below is so special to me. When we were coming home this particular day, Brendan said to me, "Mom, I love Shane and we have fun with him, but, this was so nice just to be us...me and Kyle...two brothers...twins, together, it was nice!" It was true, as I sat with my very disturbed dog who didn't really like running straight into the cold ocean, I observed some serious bonding going on - and I loved it!

Another reason we love Dodger, is because this puppy has been very therapeutic for my husband! Mike wasn't able to come to the beach with us because we rarely get to go out as a family unless we take Pop along. This would have been way too much for Pop, so Mike has to miss a lot of outings with us. However, my husband loves this dog! How could you not...just look at that face!

Kyle & Brendan....with Dodger!

Brothers...bonding!

This puppy ready to go home...seriously, I am pretty sure he was thinking...why on earth did you take me here?

He slept so good for the rest of the night! It totally tuckered him out! I think washing him down with the hose was more traumatizing than taking a dip in the freezing water! lol!

The ride home was delightful for Dodger I'm sure! He is such a good puppy! We love him, a great addition to the Engel Family and we look forward to more memories!

Our Dog Dodger

How could he not just steal your heart? Look at those eyes! We thought about this, (or I've thought about this) for some time now. It is the perfect time to raise a puppy. We are home all the time with Pop plus I homeschool..so really we are home all most every day, all day. By the time we are actually able to go away for a little bit, he should be trained well enough for someone to care for him (if we ever get to go camping in our new tent!)

So Dodger is our 9 week old hound/lab mix! The humane society was going to euthanize his Mommy while she was pregnant with 10 puppies. Pawsabilities, the organization we adopted from, rescued Autumn, our puppy's Mom, and she gave birth to 5 girls and 5 boys. I found out on Craigs List that Pawsabilities was showing their pups at Petco from 10-3 one day and my friend Katie and I took our children...just to look!

He totally chose me! I'm not kidding. I went over to the gated area and he practically jumped right into my arms. Love at first sight! The boys loved him too, but Dad was bent on "if we are going to do this, I'd like to give it to them on Christmas morning!" Well, thanks to Katie (whom by the way, adopted Dodger's brother and name him Tanner) brought both puppies back to her home for a week. So my boys could be totally surprised!

Well, my boys never in a million years would have thought they were getting a puppy. They pretty much thought my husband was Cruella DeVille, a puppy hater, since I told them that Daddy wasn't a dog person. (I had to think of something quick!)

On Christmas morning after a very long night...I let the kids open their stockings. In their stockings were those little caramel candies with the white cream in the center. Brendan saw that and immediately said..."Aww remember that caramel looking dog at the pet store?" Then at the bottom of their stocking was their annual ornament...it was a hound dog. Right after opening that..I brought the puppy out of the room. Brendan said it the best..."I almost could breathe, Mom!" They were totally in shock...couldn't believe it was theirs...to keep! So happy..we were all exhausted by the end of the day (puppy included). A special thank you goes to our Grandma Carole who sent us some money for Christmas. I'm looking forward to many fun/fond memories...if we can get past the "mouthing" stage and the "cat meets dog" stage...we are home free! He is a very good puppy!