Four-Legged Adoption Is Forever, Too.

So, this weekend’s excitement was adding a dog to our home again.  Ever since our Ben passed away, the house has been so very dog-less.  It’s also been less hairy, less noisy, and less messy (kind of).  But, mostly it’s been dog-less. 

At first, I couldn’t stand the idea of a different dog in the house.  But, whenever I met a dog, I was aware of how much I missed having one of my own.  But, the clear sign came when I watched Lizzie and Antwan play fetch. 

Antwan would throw the stick and yell “Get it, doggie!”  Lizzie would then run and fetch it.  I’m fairly certain that she was going to pick it up by mouth, but luckily, I stopped her in time. 🙂

So, we started looking around and, at just the right time, there was a big adoption event at the fairground.  So, armed with Brian’s permission to pick the dog while he was stuck at work; I headed to the event.  And, by the end of the weekend, we had a dog.  🙂

Welcome to the family!

Her name was “Pretty.”  But, since she didn’t answer to it, anyway, she is now Rose.  She is pretty, but she’s definitely a Rose, a pretty one. 🙂

Before making the decision, I asked the kids, repeatedly, if they were sure this was the dog for them because she’d be part of the family. 

Adopting a dog when adoption is such a big part of your life is, well, interesting.  When we sat down to fill out the adoption application, William sat next to me and said, happily, “I’m your lawyer for the adoption finalization!” 
. 
So, Miss Rose has proceeded to drive me a litte bonkers since we brought her home.  After she growled at a dog in Petco, William asked if we were going to send her back.  I said “No.”  It was at that moment I knew that we couldn’t send her back, despite the fact that I was panicking a little.  But, after years of telling William that adoption is forever, I knew that Rose deserved the same privilege.

She’s a sweet girl.  She loves all humans, big and small.  She’s not too keen on cats and dogs (although I’ve come to the conclusion that she’s confused and curious, not aggressive.).  She’s quiet.  The first and only time that she has barked was at the iguana. 

It feels very similar to our experience with the boys.  Her personality emerges each day and she’s finding new and unusual ways to drive me crazy. 

Tonight, Rose peed and pooped on the floor, chewed up the remote control, and climbed onto William’s lap and promptly threw up. 

But, looking back, on the first couple of days with William.  He wet his pants and sat down on the computer chair instead of telling me.  He ripped open a collectible figure that I forgot to take out of the room and lost the pieces throughout the room.  He left the remote control alone, but he made it clear pretty quickly that he was going to keep us busy.  🙂

So, life is about adjustment.  William (and therefore, we) watched the first 15 minutes of Monsters Inc, approximately, a million times because he would lose interest and then ask us to start it over.  And, Rose just ate my razor.  Not exactly the same.  It’s apples and oranges.  Children and dogs.  But, the point remains the same.

Rose is now one of us.  And, we take this adoption thing seriously. 🙂

And now I’m going to go hide all my stuff from the dog…

William believes that all dogs should have a bandana.

She thinks she’s a lap dog.

I think she likes it here. 🙂