We'd like to introduce the newest member of our family...
Daisy (or Daisy Mae, or Daisy Lou, or Daisy Duke, or Daisy Duck, depending on which member of the family you ask.)
Daisy is a 7 week old Border Collie/St. Bernard mix. She was part of a litter of puppies and their mother that were going to be euthanized at a local shelter. A member of a local rescue group heard about it and was able to get there an hour before and take them home with her. This weekend we saw them at Petsmart where she was trying to get each of the puppies adopted.
We knew we were going to get a puppy after we got back from Jamaica. And we knew we wanted a fairly large dog, so the fact that she's part St. Bernard isn't much of an issue for us. I mean, you can look at her and tell that for a 7 week old puppy, she's pretty big already. St. Bernards are really gentle and good with kids, so it seems like a perfect mix. The girls and I were at Petsmart on Sunday when we saw the puppies. I intended only on holding and playing with them (yeah, right.) I held a couple of the siblings and they were adorable, but as soon as I picked up Daisy she nuzzled into my neck and fell asleep! She even snored. Almost every person in the store that day all said, "Awwww" at the same time. :) Well, I was hooked after that. The girls loved her as well. So we called Bill and had him meet us to check her out. He liked her as well, so we submitted our application. This particular rescue organization requires a home check before adopting out their dogs, so we were scheduled to get the home check on Monday night.
Yesterday around 4:30 the woman called to say that she was on her way to come for the house check and she was bringing Daisy with her. She said she felt confident already that we'd be a good family, so she was just bringing her along instead of waiting. Well, we didn't think that we'd get Daisy so soon, so we were really unprepared. Bill had to run out last night to buy her some puppy food and some chew toys. The woman told us a little about Daisy and her litter. Apparently, Daisy is the most laid-back of all the puppies. It's proven to be true so far. She loves to be held, but also loves to play. That's a good sign for a little girl that's probably going to be pretty big. Laid-back is good.
This organization, Animals Deserve Better, charges an adoption fee, which is really a donation to cover their expenses. In return, we already have Daisy's spaying, shots, and treatments for the next year scheduled and paid for by their vet. They'll contact us when the time comes around for her to have an appointment. After the first year, we'll then start taking her to our own vet where we take Mallory and Astrid. (Our experience with him when Sindri was sick really reinforced how much we like him and will continue to use him for all our pets.)
The girls absolutely love her. I think they scared her a little at first last night with how much they wanted to play and be around her. She loved the excitement, though. She's done really well at being house-broken so far, with only a few accidents. In fact, this morning she has gone straight to the door a couple of times when she needed to go out. I don't expect to have this conquered already, but she's not doing bad so far.
An added plus to all of this is that we got Daisy on my birthday. I am so lucky and blessed to have a husband and kids that ensure that each of my birthdays every year get better and better. How could I not be excited about getting older?
