New Beginnings

Just one day shy of being one month from my beloved Mister's death, my mother and I did what we did every Saturday - we went to another pound, this one being about two hours away.

This little girl stood out from her light brown Beagle/Retriever mix "siblings" - mostly because her colors were totally different from their caramel shades!

We were told that she was supposedly a beagle/retriever mix, about 8 weeks old - needless to say, her temperament was so delicate, submissive, and the tiniest bit shy, that we picked her up and brought her home right then and there!

Upon closer inspection of her medical papers though (since she had been sent up north here from somewhere in the deep south from an overcrowded pound), she was also thought to be closer to 12 weeks old, and her original shelter recorded her to be a Lab/Dalmatian mix! (Whatever that might mean, since all pound mixes are just as good in my mind^^) Whatever she turns out to be, I am sure we will have a great decade (or hopefully even longer!) of fun ahead of us!

I asked Mister to find me a cute little girl that I could start a new life with, and I truly think he delivered; sure this little girl gets into some of the usual puppy mischief, but all in all, she is an incredibly gentle, sweet, submissive and still outgoing girl! And she trains so quickly too - within a week I had her walking perfectly on a leash, and she had all of her basic commands down - and is more than happy (most nights) to snooze away in the safety of her (Mister's old) kennel. In the past month, she has nearly doubled in size, and can just barely fit on the pillow anymore!

Most of all, I am happy to say that so far, this little girl is a healthy, trusting little thing, who loves to play with toys (this is a huge thing, since our last two dogs looked at toys like "what the heck is that?" so we have quite a few stockpiled ), and otherwise nap the day away.

Rest peacefully my beautiful little Mister, and know that what little empty space you left behind is now being filled by Zoey, who is helping me to move on - and never forget.

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While I do at times wonder about the speed at which we got a new dog - and my first puppy, no less! - it always comes back to me that, no matter how hard it was to have a dog that was sick from the day we got him, nothing about those short six years would ever make me not want to have a dog. Our time may have been cut short, but it was wonderful down to the last day. The single strand that still remained is being rebuilt with every day that passes, stronger, and fuller than ever before.

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As a final note... what do you think little Zoey might be? Others say she couldn't possibly be beagle, and every day she gets new spots and reasserts that she is likely part Dalmatian - and she also has webbed toes!