About 14 months ago, our beloved family dog died. King was the kindest, gentlest dog in the world. He was a senior when we adopted him so we knew that we wouldn't have 10-15 years with him....but we didn't think we'd lose him after only about 15 months either! After he died, the kids vowed to never have another dog....they couldn't stand the idea of 'replacing' him. For about a year, we had no pets (other than the beta fish). We talked about getting a new dog several times but it just didn't seem like the right time yet.
A few months ago, we looked on Craiglist & mentioned on Facebook that we were looking for a dog & found a beautiful Great Dane who seemed to fit our family very well. We brought her home but that didn't last. Hours later she was back at her previous owners' house. She could practically step over our fence, so she quickly figured out how to escape! The kids again vowed that it hurt too much to say goodbye to another dog, so they swore they'd never have another one.
Recently, the issue of having a dog has come up again. So the search has been on again. About a month ago (before the kids mentioned wanting a dog again), Larry & I poked through the local humane society's website & found 1 dog we might be interested in, but never pursued anything because we didn't think it was the right time. When the kids mentioned being ready again, we had forgotten about the dog on the website. We put out our feelers again & a man emailed me about our ad on Craigslist. His dog seemed like a good fit. This is her.
This morning we drove way out into the country to meet this sweet dog. Belle is a German Shorthaired Pointer. She was a sweet dog, liked to chase tennis balls, seemed like an all-around good dog for us. We told her owners that we'd talk about it & be in touch. Three of us were 'sold' & wanted to bring her home but 2 of the kids burst into tears & couldn't quite say WHY....but they weren't sure Belle was "the one" for us. We talked a little & decided to just let everyone think about it for a while....no rush to a decision was necessary. We had already planned a trip to a local alligator farm, so we went there to enjoy the animals & give everyone some time to think.
The 'gator farm was very cool. We were able to get THIS close to the alligators.
There were ducks & geese to feed.
There was a whole building with tanks full of venomous snakes...yikes! I didn't take any pictures of that.....I just wanted OUT of there!
There was a barn with animals that the kids could feed & pet.
There were ropes to climb & a bounce house for the kids to play in near the tables where we ate lunch.
And there were baby alligators & snakes inside the gift shop that the kids were able to touch too! (and may I just say that this guy had the most vein-y arms I've ever seen....if you can't tell by this pic, click on it to blow it up big & check out those veins! I could start an IV on that from across the room!)
While we sat & ate, we were able to talk a little more about the whole pet adoption situation. We talked about cats & dogs & birds. We talked about Belle, who we had already met, and why the kids weren't convinced she was 'it'. We finally decided that if we were going to get a pet, we needed to all fall in love with her right away and feel comfortable with saying she was "the one" for our family. And then it hit us....Larry & I wondered if the dog we saw on the humane society's website was still available.
Before we could leave the gator farm & call the humane society, Savannah began feeling like a migraine was coming on. We felt like it was due to the fact that we'd been out in the 100+ degree heat all day. We gave her medicine & got in the air conditioned van and made a call to the humane society. Sure enough, they were still open. And to our surprise, the particular dog we'd looked at on the website a month ago was STILL THERE!!! The kids all fell in love with her right away & so did Larry and I. So she came home with us!!
Daisy Duke is a 4 1/2 year old bassett hound. She is absolutely precious and (so far!) fits perfectly into our little family.
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