Bath Bed

This dog cracks me up.

Baths are the bane of her existence. She hates them with a passion. If you carry her to the tub, she starts squirming and trying to escape (and a lot of the time she succeeds. Bath time is a work out!)

On rare occasions when she is thirsty, she will intentionally jump in the bath tub to ask for more water. That's where she thinks it comes from, I guess. But she doesn't stay in there long--too much risk!

So out of the blue this last week... Molly has started taking naps in the tub!  A couple of times she disappeared, only for us to find her relaxing inside the empty bathtub. What the heck? Maybe it's a cool place to go to beat the summer heat?

Molly's Gotcha Day

Today marks 2 years since I brought this cute little bundle of fur home! Hard to believe it's only been that long.

She sure has grown up!

Serenity of Snow

I hate snow. It's pretty to look at, but it's cold, it's hard to drive in, and it's wet and messy. I'm okay with snow for Christmas, but the rest of the year, no thanks!

Molly loves snow. Always has, since she was a puppy. I usually take her on a walk sometime in the evening after my workday. Yesterday though snow has pouring down and I figured we'd stay inside. Molly begged so cutely though that we ended up going on a walk out in the midst of the storm. We stayed out there for 40 minutes! Every time we started heading home she would desperately pull on the leash in a different direction, and I indulged her.

But you know what, I actually enjoyed the snow last night. Everything seemed so peaceful and serene blanketed in snow. The world was so quiet, since everyone was at home snuggled up by their fireplaces.

Maybe I need to give snow a break.

Goodbye Flowers

When Molly was little, I loved to put flowers on her collar.

Unfortunately, I realized before too long that she didn't like them. They would slide around and get in her face. I'm not sure if they were really comfortable.

So it's been a long time since she's worn one.

Yesterday somehow she got into a box of her stuff and emerged with the biggest flower! And completely tore it to shreds.

Guess that really is the end of that!

Hawk Fighter

Remember that time that little Molly almost got snatched by a hawk?

I've been a bit worried about it ever since, even though she's much bigger now.

Well, today (before it started snowing randomly) Molly and I were in the backyard. I was attempting to teach her to play with a Frisbee, which she was very enthusiastic about but which wasn't going well because the Frisbee is way too big for her. All of a sudden, she ran in the opposite direction of the frisbee, staring up at the sky and barking her head off.

I looked up and there was the hawk! Fortunately it just kept flying along. It probably prefers prey that runs from it as opposed to prey that threatens it.

I'm relieved to know that Molly can notice the hawk coming--I had no idea it was up there. Hopefully she can handle herself and he's not a threat anymore. Our new place will be deep in suburbia, so maybe we won't have to deal with hawks!

Bunny Attack

Molly doesn't like bunnies.

She met her first bunny as a wee little pup, and it scared her. The bunny was twice her size. She ran to me for protection. But then the bunny ran from her, and... someone clicked in her little puppy brain. She chased it out of the yard, and she's been a proud bunny chaser every since.

So today I was working at my parents, when all of a sudden Molly went ballistic. She was barking her danger bark, and running BACKWARDS across the kitchen like she was trying to get away from something. I followed her gaze, and there was my mom with her arms full of some semi-realistic rabbit Easter decorations that she was putting up.

To be fair, these things are clearly terrifying...

Molly launched herself across the room at my mom barking her head off. Her hackles were actually up--the hair on her back was standing straight up. I guess she thought Mom was bringing those vile creatures into her house, and she didn't appreciate it? Mom held one out to her to show her it wasn't real and Molly tried to snap its head off. (Fortunately Mom has faster reflexes than Molly!)

Once Mom had all her decorations set up, I tried holding Molly up to the bunnies and reassuring her they weren't real. She finally seemed to get it and she calmed down. I wish I knew what was going through her cute little dog brain! She is funny sometimes.

Insta-Flashback

Do you ever just scroll through your Instagram or your Facebook or whatever and marvel at how your life has changed? I suppose blog scrolling would be another good option too.

Today I took a few minutes to do that. When I turned 29, I set a goal to make my last year of my twenties the best year. I wasn't sure what that would look like. During the summer of 2016, I'd taken my dream trip to London and Paris, so with that in my mind I thought I would focus on traveling, learning new things, having exciting experiences.

There has been some of that this year. But mostly, it's been the best year because of my loved ones and the time I've spent with them. It's amazing how much has changed in my family just over the last year.


Last fall, both Kristie and Jason came home from their missions. I moved out of the house when Kristie was only 10. She was home from September to January, and during that time, we spent more time together than we have in a very long while. We had lots of sister bonding moments and lots of fun adventures.

Once Jason was back, we had our whole family living together in the same place for 6 weeks or so. We all knew it was likely our last hurrah (the last time we'd all live at home) and so we really tried to enjoy our time together. In December we took an awesome family trip out to SLC to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, and it was very much on my mind that it might be our last trip before people started spreading out and getting married. But I had no idea just how close that time was--on that very trip, Kristie went on her first date with her now-husband, and the rest is history!

Once 2017 rolled around, I thought seriously about making a big change in my life. I'd essentially given up on marriage, and I wanted to make some changes so I could live a more fulfilling life as a single woman. I wasn't sure what that would be. I considered a PhD or buying a home, but I realized I didn't really want to go back to school, and I didn't feel right about buying a home for some reason. Eventually I decided to adopt a puppy. I'd always planned to wait until my kids were old enough to ask for a dog, but it seemed to me I might never have kids, and that I'd waited long enough. My instagram feed becomes clogged with Molly pics after that--so strange to think that she's only been part of my life for a few months, really! She's grown up so much from when I brought her home as a tiny little furball (I see one instagram post where her breeder told me she was a healthy 4 pounds. She's three times that big now!).

The same week I got Molly (February 18 is her gotcha day!), I flew out for Melissa's wedding. I was so happy for her that she finally found her Prince Charming! Actually, now that I think about it, that was the same week Kristie got engaged too, and I was very happy for her! But at the same time, these moments reminded me of how my life hadn't gone according to plan. I remember recommitting myself to my plan to make my single life the best it could be.

That was more ironic than I could ever have realized, because I was only two weeks away from meeting my future husband. On March 4, I helped host Colorado Springs annual YSA Ball--Back to the Future themed this time! As I was running around finishing the set up, I saw Trevor for the first time in the hallway. He'd been in the Springs looking for housing that day and decided to stop by. Of course I noticed he was cute. I overheard him telling someone he'd be moving to the Springs soon. I thought of going to say hi.... but I didn't. Right away I thought, what is the point? So maybe we'd flirt a little at the dance. Maybe he'd even get my number and we'd go on a date or two. It won't go anywhere--it never does. Either he'll lose interest or I will. So I went on my way without a word to him.

At the beginning of the ball, there was a formal dinner. We had seats for 180 people or so. I picked a table to sit at. And... out of all the tables in that room, Trevor ended up sitting at mine. He was with a guy giving him advice about housing (Mitch, if anyone is curious!) and Mitch decided they should sit with us. I couldn't help but wonder if I was getting a second chance to talk to Trevor. He introduced himself and we got to talk a bit... and the more we talked, the more I realized that for the first time in a while, I was actually interested in this boy. I really wanted him to get my number.

We weren't sitting next to each other. He was across the table and a seat or two down from me, and we soon got pulled into conversations with the people closer to us. And then as dinner ended, I had to dash off to get the dance launched. I don't remember how long I was out there running around. I do remember that when I made it back into the gym, I ran into Trevor almost right away (he says he was looking for me!) and it was a slow song, so he asked me to dance. I don't remember everything we talked about, but I do remember he asked what I do for fun and he seemed to be listening closely--I hoped he was scoping out date ideas. When the song ended, we stood there and just kept talking. Everything seemed to be going well until he asked how old I was and we discovered I was 29 and he was 24. I thought it was all over there, and so I backed off my flirting quite a bit in case he was scared off by my age. But, he still asked me for my number. He told me he had to take off because he had a long drive back to Boulder, but he'd be back in a couple weeks to check out more housing options, and he'd move to the Springs in May.

I watched him leave the dance, and I knew there was no way I would meet anyone else who could compete that night.

I didn't hear much from him after that. I did see him briefly when he came back to the Springs to work on housing, but he was mostly focused on talking to guys to see if anyone needed a roommate. During the next two months, I thought about him now and then and wondered if he'd vanished because he lost interest, or if he was just buried in finishing up his master's degree, and when he appeared he'd ask me out.

And then one Friday night he showed up at the weekly YSA activities I was in charge of. It was a Pinewood Derby night. My guy friends had tried to teach me the trick to building a super car, but I decided I didn't want to worry about it too much and threw together a car from a kit that soon claimed its place as the slowest car of the night. (Which I was ridiculously proud of--if you have a slow car, it might as well be the slowest!) Meanwhile Trevor brought one of his childhood cars and won for being the fastest. You can see snippets of this on my Instagram--a pic of my car, and a couple videos of it slowly approaching the finish line--in one, you can catch a glimpse of Trevor.

I was happy to see him there, but also cautious. I played it cool and didn't hover near him. It seemed to me like he went to talk to every other girl before me (he says it was more like they talked to him!). But towards the end of the night, Trevor came to talk to me before he left. He asked me about some upcoming events, including the Baccalaureate Service that Sunday at the Air Force Academy. Seated was limited so they were giving out tickets to make sure we didn't overflow the AFA Chapel. I knew my dad had a stack of tickets at home (he's a bishop) so I offered to give him one. Then Trevor asked about a carpool to the service. It would have been a golden opportunity to offer him a ride, but I didn't. I didn't want to be too forward. So I told him I was sure he would catch a ride with someone after church. But at the end of our conversation, Trevor brought it up again. "Are you sure there's not a carpool? How are you getting there? Are you going with your family?" I decided maybe he really did want to go with me, and I told him he could come with me and Lori.

Then I went home and thought about it a little. I called Lori up and told her I had a date to the baccalaureate so we wouldn't be able to drive up together.

The next night, Sister Dalton gave a fireside (she was the speaker at the Baccalaureate Service). I saw Trevor come in and sit down by himself in the back. All of a sudden I felt shy. I wanted to invite him to sit with me, but wasn't that kind of forward? No, no, it was just being friendly, so he wouldn't have to sit alone. I turned and smiled and waved at him, and gestured to him to come join me.

Since then.... we've basically been inseparable. It wasn't long before we became official... Actually I think that was the same week Kristie got married! Now here we are, engaged and counting down the days to the wedding.

If you'd told me a year ago where I'd be now... I wouldn't have believed you for a second. It's crazy to think about everything that has happened in a year. It makes me wonder what the future is going to hold.

Petsmart Puppy Class 2-4

I realized I hadn't done one of these in a while, and since I've been looking around trying to find more info on what to expect for the final classes, I decided I should do a write-up.

The second class was fairly simple. Our dogs knew sit and shake at that point--I think they were a bit ahead of the game, so the new trick we learned was spin. Molly and I had a lot of trouble with that one. To teach it, you're supposed to walk backwards while holding a treat at the dog's shoulder level to guide them through the trick. Well, Molly is so short I have to lean over really far to hold the treat at the right place, and I tend to forget to walk backwards. So she'd sort of spin in place while sitting, but she's supposed to spin while walking. She still doesn't have the knack of that trick quite, but I don't worry about it too much since spin is not a vital skill for a dog to have.

The real breakthrough in week 2 was Molly getting over her fear of the other dogs! My parents were in the area going out to dinner, so they stopped by Petsmart to visit us while we were practicing in the aisle. Molly was really happy to see them. While they were there, one of the other class members brought her dog to say hi to Molly, and Molly wasn't as scared as normal. By the end of class, she was going up to the other dogs and sniffing them and licking their faces! Once she realized they weren't scary, all she wanted to do was play.

In week 3, we sadly didn't have time for puppy play time. But we learned a helpful trick called leave it. Basically you drop food on the ground. As the dog approaches it, you move your foot in front of them and tell them to leave it. When they look up at you instead of the food, you give them a treat from your hand. At first Molly really struggled with this. She didn't bother to look up, because she was so focused on the treat. The instructor had me use better treats than what I brought (liver treats that smelled awful, but she loved them) and she finally got it. I think some other dogs were struggling, though. We were left out to practice so long that Molly completely lost interest in treats and tricks. I think it was 20-30 minutes that we were out there. When we went back to the group, Molly didn't do well when it was her turn to come to the middle of the circle, because she was too busy running around saying hi to all the other dogs! That was unexpected. But once I did get her attention, she did great at the tricks.

In week 4, we started stay work. It didn't go well for us. Our class got a late start and we had to skip puppy playtime again. There is a chihuahua in our class that has really been struggling--barking a lot and going crazy. She had been doing better but last week she went CRAZY. She actually bit her owner for the first time. Our instructor was at a loss what to do. He couldn't teach us while holding her. He didn't want her owner to hold her, because that little dog is too protective of her. So the next thing I knew (after he asked me if I promised not to sue if she bit me), he had me hand the chihuahua's owner my dog (much to Molly's distress and confusion) and take the chihuahua to the other side of the training pen. That chihuahua fought me so hard! At first she settled into arms, but soon she was frantic. I unfortunately was wearing a t-shirt, and she ripped my arms to ribbons with her claws! I was so focused on holding on to her that I missed the entire lesson on stay. And I couldn't even watch my dog. At first Molly fought to get away from the other person, but soon she cuddled into her.

The instructor usually practices the skill with all the big dogs before we go out into the aisles, but he usually skips Molly and the chihuahua--maybe because Molly used to be too scared and the chihuahua too vicious? He had the other woman practice stay with Molly, but the hand motion is similar to what I taught her for down. So she just sat down.

We went out to the aisles and I realized I had no clue what to do. I told the instructor as much when he came by, but I still didn't get it when he tried to help me and neither did Molly. Worse, he mentioned that to graduate this class, the dogs have to be able to stay for 15 seconds. It's almost time for our next class, and Molly and I have made no progress. I admit I am very embarrassed at the prospect that my dog might fail out of the class for this! Oh well. Whether we get that certificate or not, Molly has learned a lot from this experience, and so have I.

At least Molly has a chance of passing. That poor little chihuahua doesn't. After class, I overheard the instructor telling her owner that she needs more help than he can give. I won't be surprised if she doesn't come back.

All in all, the puppy class has been a good experience. I've learned some training tips, Molly has learned not to be scared of other dogs, and she's learned a few fun tricks. I wish we spent more time on other things though, like discipline for example. Still, I think it's been good to go through the course. But I'm glad I stuck with just 6 weeks--they tried to up sell me to 12 or 18 weeks.

Chauffeur

Today Mom, Shauna, and I went to the Downeast Basic outlet at Castle Rock to go bridesmaid dress shopping. (And we found something cute I'm hoping we can use-pending Kristie approval.) We left Molly behind with my dad.

Poor Molly has some intense separation anxiety when we are apart. It's not uncommon for her to break past the gate into the basement to search for me after I leave, even if she watches me go into the garage on my way out. So this time Dad carried her out to watch me get into the car and drive away, in the hopes that she wouldn't feel a need to check the basement.

This was the result:

She's a smart dog! 

House Arrest

Poor Molly! She is under house arrest and she doesn't understand why. It's really sad, because outside is her favorite place to be! Letting her outside is also the best way to keep her entertained when I'm working.

But... we've got a couple problems. One being that she is proving to be Houdini. To date she has found 4 different ways out of the yard. Fortunately, she found all of them while I was outside with her so I could quickly retrieve her from the neighbor's yards. I keep thinking we've successfully trapped her in the yard only for her to find another way out. We've got one of those three tiered fences (what are those called?) with chicken wire running along the bottom so she can't get out. But she keeps finding ways to squeeze past it.

We've secured one particular fence corner three times. First, we put a giant rock in front of the hole. Seemed simple enough. Then she figured out the chicken wire wasn't properly secured and if she pushed on it, she could still make a big enough opening to fit through. So we took care of that. After a couple trips where she frantically picked at the spot, she figured if she jumped on the chicken wire, she can bend it back with her weight a bit, and then climb it like a ladder so she can climb through one of the higher gaps in the fence. Yeesh!

And since I'm a dork, I caught her in the act on video so you can see what I mean:

My dog is Houdini. We keep blocking her from getting through the fence and then she gets creative!

A post shared by Shelece McAllister (@coolshelece) on Apr 3, 2017 at 3:12pm PDT

(I had the bright idea that I could stop filming and grab her before she made it through the fence. Instead I ended up chasing her down through the neighbor's yard).

The other big problem is that our neighborhood backs onto a forest and is thus infested with predators. Some creature has been climbing fences and leaving disremembered rabbit parts scattered across multiple yards (which frankly I would not have noticed if Molly wasn't so good at finding said parts, escaping our yard if necessary to get to them.) We're still not 100% sure of the culprit, but since then, one late night, we spotted a raccoon out on our street corner. So... it's probably the raccoon. Since that time, Molly has been forbidden from going out at night alone.

We also have at least one hawk that lives behind our house. I say at least one, because one day I looked out the window while Molly was outside and I could see 3 hawks circling the field behind our yard. According to Google, hawks can and do sometime take dogs up to 10 lbs (Molly is almost 8 now). So I was trying to stay out with her during the day too, although not always being good about it to be completely honest, because I was't sure I really believed the hawks were a threat.

Then one day I was cuddling Molly on the couch and the hawk landed outside on the fence. It just sat there for a few minutes, watching us through the window. Eek.

Then yesterday. Molly and I were outside. I was trailing a little bit behind her, trying to read something on my phone, when all of a sudden a big bird swooped past us, very close by and very low to the ground. My first thought was, how weird! At least that wasn't the hawk! Then the bird landed on our neighbor's basketball hoop and sat there watching us. Yes, it was the hawk, and it didn't fly away until I scooped Molly up and headed for the house.

So. Yes, the hawk does want to eat Molly. Hyper vigilance is required. All of this means she is no longer allowed outside on her own, and I can't take her out much during my workday. This has resulted in one unhappy puppy camping out by the back door. Sometimes I really wish she could speak English so I could explain things!

Petsmart Puppy Class Day 1

Tonight Molly went to her first puppy class at Petsmart! She did well in learning the tricks but not so well in socializing with the other puppies. I'm going to go into a lot of detail here--forgive me. I was just wishing I could have gone through someone's blog post on Petsmart training so I would know what to expect.

The first ten minutes of class were puppy play time. Our instructor Richard told us to drop the leashes and let the puppies just play together, since the only way they can learn to socialize with other dogs is by doing it. There are 6 or 7 puppies in the class. Most of them are big puppies--there's a husky, a bull mastiff, a chocolate lab, and a few other dogs I couldn't identify, plus a very yippy chihuahua. Most of the puppies eagerly started playing, but Molly hid behind my legs and even climbed up on my chair to sit in my lap. The instructor made me put her back down. We weren't allowed to touch the puppies during puppy play time, and if they hid behind us, we had to move.

It broke my heart to listen to him, because Molly was terrified! When I moved away, she hid under my chair. The bull mastiff (his name is Hulk, which is basically perfect) came over to sniff her, and she ran away whining in fear, tail between her legs, to hide behind another woman's legs across the room. Richard said if puppies are scared of dogs like that, it usually means they were taken from their litters too soon. I am a little unclear on Molly's age. The breeder's husband told me she was born on December 18, but her shot record says she was born on December 9. Either way, she got an extra 5 days with her family after her siblings left--so if anything, her litter was taken from her too soon! But she spent that time living with other adult dachshunds. I'm not sure the problem is that she was taken from her family too soon, or if it's just that she hasn't interacted with other dogs for the month that I've had her. Either way... Richard is hopeful that we can overcome her fear.

After puppy play time, we gathered up our dogs, and Richard taught us the secret to training dogs. The second they do something right, we've got to say, "YES!" in a bright and happy voice, so they learn that "yes" means they did something good. The timing of the "Yes" is more important than the timing of a treat when we are teaching them, because soon the treat goes away. He had us go around the room and each say, "Yes!" one by one. (He said I had the perfect tone. If he'd asked me to say "no," though, that wouldn't have gone well.) He threw a ball in the air and told us to say "Yes" as soon as it hit its highest point, so we could work on responding quickly. And then he bounced it off the ground and we had to say "Yes" as soon as it hit. Once we passed that test, he told us to get out our dog treats. Five times in a row, we said "Yes!" and then gave the dog a treat to get the positive association in their brains.

Then Richard walked around the circle. He'd distract each dog, and the owner's job was to call their name and give them a treat (with a big YES of course!) when the dog turned to look at them. (When we say the dog's name, it should mean "Stop what you are doing and look at me, a command is coming.") Molly rocked at this. The second I said her name, she turned to me. Richard said that was name recognition at a high level, and she'll do well.

Next, we worked on sit. Each owner had to run into the middle of the circle and stand in three different places, getting the dog to sit each time. Richard wasn't critiquing the dog's performance so much as the owner's performance, which made me a bit nervous, but it went well. The hardest part was coaxing Molly out of the corner to the middle of the circle. She is so scared of the other dogs! She looked up at me with this adorable scared puppy dog face that made everyone coo. (Richard says she is the cutest puppy and she will never get in trouble in his class!) But she slowly shyly came into the center, and she sat every time I told her to. She even started sitting before I gave the command, which threw me off but Richard said was a great sign and deserved a treat.

Finally, Richard gave each of us a platform, and had us take our dogs into separate aisles of the store (in the middle of the customers, which was kind of awkward) to practice "Climb" and "release", or in other words, get on top of the platform and then climb down. For Molly, we had to take the legs off her platform because she is so short! But she did very well.

We all regrouped in the training area. Richard says our homework is to teach our dogs to "shake" with just their left paw. If we can do that, he'll teach us 2 special tricks next week--I missed the first one, but the second one is a praying pose, I think. Molly knows how to shake already, but I let her switch paws. Guess we'll have to work on that this week!

Canine Cuisine

So poor little Molly has some kind of puppy flu. She's been to the vet, and the vet thinks she will be okay... I'm just keeping a close eye on her. And, I'm feeding her a diet of boiled chicken and rice.

A light bulb went off in my head as I was making her food. Why do we buy dog food? Dogs survived for centuries without eating things in cans. It seems like it's healthier to make them food. I know that the chicken and rice are safe and healthy without a bunch of weird preservative chemicals.

Plus, it would be so much cheaper to just make her food.

I may have just become the kind of dog mom that cooks for her baby. Hmmm.... definitely didn't see that coming.

My New Little Addition

Today marks one week since I brought my new puppy home! I've decided to call her Molly.

Here we are on the car ride home!

Shauna went in with me to pick her up. The teenage girl in the family carried her to me and she already had her little tail wagging as fast as it could and she immediately wanted to lick my face. (Puppies are the best!) She stayed at the breeder's 5 days longer than her siblings so I could make it to Melissa's wedding, and during that time they went ahead and separated her from her mama. That must have been hard on her but I do think it made our transition easier! She seemed to understand almost right away that this was her new home.

Checking out her new bed on the first night!

She didn't whine or cry or look for her mama--instead almost right away she accepted me as her new mama! She didn't even cry at all her first night--she whined for less than a minute, and then went to sleep and slept through the whole night in her new kennel.

She stays close to me. If I go out of her sight, she cries. If she can't get to me, she cries. (Every time I take a bath, she spends the whole time crying and trying to jump in the tub!) If I don't pay attention to her (like when I'm doing my hair in the morning) she cries. It's adorable and hard to keep up with at the same time. We're working on it. This morning while I did my hair, she just played with her toys at my feet. Progress!

Molly has two speeds. Running around playing with everything she can find, or passed out on my lap. There isn't really an in-between!

Enjoying her squeaky toys. It's hard to see, but she's got two stacked up here!

She's a brave little girl. She conquered stairs almost right away. She's a pro at running up stairs, but going down stairs is really hard--but she doesn't let that stop her. She'll run down the stairs, grunting and growling with determination with every step. She loves running underneath our furniture--the couches, the ottoman, the beds, my nightstand. It won't be long before she's too big to do that anymore. I think that's her dachshund burrowing instinct. :) They were bred to chase badgers down their holes.

She LOVES snow. Max used to hate it (probably cuz the poor little guy had no fur!) but she loves to run and play in it and dig in it.

I mean, she's afraid of some things. She hates loud noises, which so far include vacuums, hair dryers, the ice maker in the fridge, and my stomach growling.

She's much more vocal than Max used to be! When he was a puppy, he hardly made noise, except whining now and then. Molly is not afraid to whine, growl, grunt, or bark when it's appropriate. She likes to let us know what she is thinking!

We are still getting to know each other, but I love her already. It's great having a dog in the house again! And I'm happy she seems to understand she is my dog. :)

Puppy Countdown: One Week

A photo posted by Shelece McAllister (@coolshelece) on Feb 11, 2017 at 9:06pm PST

I think I'm getting a little too excited. :) Only one more week! Right now I'm thinking I'll call her Molly or Mimi, which is funny because those were the first two names I considered and then I brainstormed a huge list, but this is what stuck.

Call It Puppy Love

Tonight I met my new best friend.

Hayley ventured with me down near Fort Carson to see that litter of dachshund puppies. I knew there was 1 boy and 2 girls, but I hadn't seen any pictures or anything. I was delighted to discover they are longhaired dachshunds--very pretty little animals, and supposed to be the sweetest of the dachshund variations because of the spaniel in their blood.

The little boy was a beautiful brown color with other colors mixed in (brindle, I think it's called?), and then there were two little black girl puppies, one with a splash of white on her chest and one that was solid black. Hayley and I sat on the couch as the puppies came into the room. I scooped up the little boy and she scooped up one of the girls. The little girl left behind ran around our feet whining until I scooped her up too (which took me about 2 seconds, don't worry!).

It's hard to get a good pic of puppies because they move so much!!

I asked some questions about the puppies' personalities. They said the boy was very playful and so was one of the girls, but the smallest girl was mild like her dad. Guess which one I immediately was the most interested in? :) Of course the two girls looked so similar, I'm not sure the one I picked in the end was the one they were talking about.

The sellers left to give us some privacy. We set the puppies on the ground and played with them. The little boy wasn't much interested in us. He was running around the room exploring on his own, a very independent puppy but perhaps not the cuddly lovebug I am looking for. The two sisters took turns climbing into my lap and Hayley's lap. One sister was a little more hyperactive than the other (the girl with the splash of white). The solid black puppy was more content to just cuddle with me, although she did run around and play with the others.

It was SO hard to pick. I think I spent half an hour watching them and feeling hopelessly smitten with them all. But in the end, I decided on my little cuddle buddy.

While I was filling out the paper work, the seller started to put them away, but then she brought back my puppy and put her in my arms. "I'll let you say goodbye." So I snuggled her for a minute and it really started sinking in... she's going to be mine. If she lives as long as Max, she'll be in my life until my mid-forties. I told her, "I'm gonna be your best friend!" And it will be true.

She was born on December 18, and she'll be ready to come home with me around Valentine's Day. I am planning on picking her up on February 19, after I get back from my trip to Melissa's wedding.

I've missed having a dog so much! I'm excited to have that in my life again. Now, I just need to decide what to name her...

One Step Closer

I'm going tomorrow night!

We'll see how this goes. Maybe I'll snap back to my senses at some point... but after just missing out on lovely little Molly I jumped on this ad like a crazy lady.

I tell myself I'm just going to check them out but let's be real... once I see those sweet little puppy faces I'll be a goner. I'll keep you posted!