Meeting Our Pooch

Since losing Mouse a year ago, getting another dog wasn't even a question for Jay and me. Neither of us really grew up with dogs, and even though for the majority of Mouse's life she was unhealthy which made for some bad memories, she brought us SO much joy! We realized our lives weren't complete without a sweet furry friend.

Losing Mouse was emotionally very difficult and we needed time to heal.

Six months later during our trip home to California for Christmas, we went to an adoption event with my mom. (She has been volunteering for a dog rescue for a few years.) We just about died over a German Shepherd puppy. My mom was able to bring the dog home so we could interact with her and see if she would be a good fit. Pretty quickly it became clear that it wasn't the right dog or the right time. Jay and I agreed on waiting until we moved to Michigan and lived in a bigger place, then we would start the puppy search.

A couple of months before our move, Jay and I were getting antsy so we checked KSL and Craigslist on a regular basis. I'm not sure if it was timing or what, but Utah was a hot spot for inexpensive yellow and black Labrador Retrievers. The pictures were killer! It was official- we wanted a Lab! But again, we were waiting til our move. 

On Saturday May 17th we flew to Michigan. By Monday the puppy search was in full force! (We are staying in a hotel with A LOT of time on our hands.) I spent hours on the computer and made countless phone calls to breeders in the Michigan area. It wasn't too hard to find Labs in Michigan, however, it was nearly impossible to find Labs under an eighty mile radius. Everything was at least eighty miles away (average two hour drive). We were willing to make a two- even three hour drive for a pup we knew we were going to love, but we couldn't justify taking a two hour drive just to go and meet one then potentially being unhappy with it. Also, the only pups we were finding were craaaazy expensive. Because it had only been one day of searching, I felt I should keep going til I found something close by. I checked the internet constantly over the next two days. Somehow I got the idea to look into a shelter. Jay and I didn't necessarily have strong opinions about choosing a breeder over a shelter. I remembered my mom's experiences with rescue dogs, and after all my research I realized there were a lot of advantages in getting a pup from an Animal Rescue. I looked through the websites of all the Animal Rescues/Shelters I could find in our area.

Then I stumbled upon this:

Hyacinth- (the rescues always give them wacky names but no worries, we will come up a good name) a ten week old Lab Border Collie mix. I showed Jay and he immediately responded, "Awe yeah! She's really cute!" (He wasn't particularly excited about any of the other dogs I showed him.) I saved her information and continued on with my search. Finally I decided to call the rescue about Hyacinth. I figured it couldn't hurt to at least go and meet her. I wasn't getting through to anyone over the phone which became very frustrating! I kept searching while waiting for someone to return my five phone calls. The next day (Wednesday) I got a call from the Rescue telling me we could come meet Hyacinth that day!

We arrived at the Rescue in Ogsego (25 miles away). Karen, the head of he rescue: Pet Resource Network, showed us to her backyard where she keeps all the pups, then introduced us to Hyacinth.

Hyacinth was pretty timid and shy at first which immediately gave us a good feeling about her personality. Karen reached in and grabbed the pup then gave her to me. After holding her for a couple minutes, I set her down. She immediately came back over sniffing and licking us. Until having a pup of my own I thought people were looney when they talked about having a "connection" with an animal. But we felt that connection with Mouse, and felt it again that day with Hyacinth.

Being the anxious over-thinking not so spontaneous person that I am, I wondered if maybe this was too soon, if we should look at more pups first. Karen said the pups go quick. So I thought, well we really love her, she's cute, she's affordable, so why wouldn't we get her?? 

The Marriott accepts pets, but I felt better about the idea of settling into our apartment first. Also for the sake of the pup, I didn't want to move her around so much right in the beginning. Karen agreed to hold on to Hyacinth for another nine days, and in return she asked that we would make a donation to the rescue. We were glad to do it.
We love our pup so much already and can't wait to bring her home!

Karen is pretty amazing (or maybe crazy?) for tending to all of these dogs.

And on top of that, Karen owns a Great Dane. 
Jay was in love. I mean I guess I don't blame him, Great Dane's are just his size! I had to convince him that one dog was good for now.