Puppy Love

Jeremy and I got two Labrador retrievers in 1997 when we bought our first house with a BIG yard.

Sundance and Hazel

(that's not our yard pictured above)

This was our yard....

The idea was to breed them and sell the litters. 

But after surviving puppyhood with both of us gone at work all day, we had Hazel fixed and decided it wasn't the best idea for us.

 Our nephew and niece loved them!

Our First Christmas

(you know, when you don't have kids, the dogs MUST be in your family picture.)

We loved them!

(even though they chewed the siding off the back of the house, scratched the door and windows, tore screens, ruined shoes, messed up the floor, barked at night, jumped on guests, and were stinky)

And they loved the kids

Have you ever seen the movie Marley and Me?  Our dogs, especially Hazel, were a lot like Marley. 

As they got older, they calmed down, slowed down, and laid down just about all day and night. 

At the end, Sundance was content sleeping all night and taking 10-12 hour naps in the day.

Hazel passed away in 2008 and Sundance passed away in May of 2010. 

And they have been missed.

When he was old, Sundance would thump his tail on the floor when we came in the room (he was too old to bother getting up).  Or if he had been napping and we woke him up,

thump...thump...thump.

I miss that thump.

We both grew up with dogs.

Emily, Wesley, and Savannah have always had a dog until Sundance passed.

But since he passed, we had not talked about getting another dog....until....

the other day a friend was looking for a home for this gal.

Before I saw the email, Jeremy came into my office and asked,

"did you see the email about the dog?"

He had this silly grin on his face. 

A grin like, "Can you believe I am even talking to you about this?"

Like, "Do we really need to get another dog?"

It's a big commitment.  Dogs aren't just something you get for the fun of it.  They become part of the family.  If we got a young dog now, she would probably be with us at least until Savannah was in high school. 

(Lord willing)

We entertained the idea (not talking about it in front of the kids) during that day, but that dog soon found a home.

We were off the hook....

so I thought.

Now that the conversation has started, I'm still thinkin'

what about another dog?

Is there a dog for us?