We did not intend to get a dog on Monday, June 7. Shane and I have been talking about getting a dog for quite some time but we had said we would wait until at least a couple of months after we moved. We had every intention of adopting a shelter dog too. So when our friend and co-worker, Amanda told us there was a very sweet cockapoo puppy at Puppy Center (where her husband's cousin works...I think...right?) we thought we'd just go down and check her out because cockapoos were one of the breeds we were considering. We gave each other a little pep talk before we went (as we've done pretty much every time we've visited Puppy Center) and said "We're not going to be getting this dog. We're just visiting." (Really this pep talk is more for me than it is for Shane...) And then we headed on into the store.
We were not prepared for this...
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This little pup was everything Amanda said she would be and more. A very nice girl working at the store couldn't stop telling us about how wonderful this dog is and how she's one of a kind and on and on and on...gushing about this tiny little girl.
But there were so many obstacles we would have to overcome to get a dog right now. First of all, the apartment we're currently living in doesn't allow pets. Second, Shane's roommates did not necessarily want a dog in the house. And third, we were going to be moving in about two weeks and we still had a lot to do before we'd be ready.
But even with all of that working against us, we began scheming about how we could make it work.
(A picture of the little girl playing with Shane.)
Puppy Center said they would hold her for a little while if we paid for her now, we could ask my mom to keep her for us until we moved...we agonized for hours over the decision.
And then we finally came to the decision that we could make it work. She was our dog. We just knew it. And we were going to do whatever we had to do to have her. My mother very graciously agreed to care for her until we moved to our new apartment and we began thinking about what we'd need to do to prepare for her.
But then there was a wonderful twist. Our present roommates were surprisingly ok with our decision to get a dog and said it would be alright if she stayed at the apartment with us. We were thrilled. So we instead changed our plans so that she would stay with us for the most part before the move, and then go to my mom's for the time leading up to the move when we'd really need to focus on packing and wouldn't be able to give her enough attention. While she was with us in West Hartford, we would take turns going home during our lunch break to let her out and feed her.
So we paid for her and gave her a name (that we also agonized over...for days)...Ginger Snap Root-Beatty. And we had our dog. The cutest, sweetest, smartest little pup there ever was.
(A rare moment...taking a little nap on my lap at my mom's house...)
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Taking care of her has definitely been challenging. She needs constant attention (and I do mean constant) and all of this is coming at an already stressful point in our lives...but I don't regret the decision one bit. I can't wait to watch her grow and learn new things and just generally become intertwined in our lives. This is the start of something good.
