It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows us or reads this blog that Bob and I have adopted a puppy. As it turns out it is easier to find a canine companion than a mate. This is pretty much where the puppy hunt and dating comparison ends and the puppy care and newborn care comparison begins (although in a very abbreviated form with no breast feeding.)
We came to find our new puppy in a rather sad and circuitous route. The puppy that we originally inquired about became ill and died. His mother had never been vaccinated against distemper and while she didn’t suffer from the disease she did pass it along to her litter. Their underdeveloped immune systems didn’t stand a chance. This was an emotional setback for me, but mostly I was just so sad that an animal had suffered unnecessarily, especially a baby.
The woman who runs the rescue agency felt awful and invited Bob and me to an adoption event on Saturday. We didn’t expect to meet a puppy there, but we thought it would make sense to meet her. They get new litters of puppies all the time and she offered to help in our search. In a reversion to my dating comparison, however, sometimes it just happens when you are not looking.
Or when you see a pen of puppies that look like this:
We are now the proud parents of an eight-week-old Bogle. A what? It is a Boxer/Beagle mix and, yes, I have given him a designer dog name. I don’t expect that it will have the success of the Pugle or the Labradoodle, but you never know. He is ten pounds of sweet and silly and is asleep in my lap as I type. We have named him Goose after Goose Gossage, the Hall of Fame baseball great who started his career with Chicago White Sox. OK, so I am a Cubs fan and really we just heard the name while watching the Hall of Fame ceremony and thought it would be a great name for a dog. But we got lucky and found a Chicago connection in his career so we could have an excuse.
Our yellow lab, Mike and Goose have been introduced and haven’t eaten each other, so that is a start. I am sure it is just a matter of time (and size) (and patience) before they become best friends. If I believe it, then it will happen right?
For me it was pretty much love at first snuggle.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Shannon // Apr 1, 2009 at 9:27 am
Goose is so cute!! I can’t wait to meet your new little love.
2 Heather // Apr 1, 2009 at 1:51 pm
OMG – he is scrumptious!! I bet he has that “puppy” smell too. Yum! Enjoy your new addition. He’s so cute!
3 Deb // Apr 1, 2009 at 3:49 pm
What a cutie!
No worries… Goose Gossage played for the Cubs too. He may have even been on the ’89 team but I know he played for the team in the late 80′s. Cubs fans claim him so no betrayal there
4 Lisette // Apr 1, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Yay! Congratulations! …but you only brought home one?
5 princess // Apr 1, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Good to know about the Cubs connection, thank you. I need to do better rationalization research next time.