We Got a Puppy!

We are now a family of five! This past weekend, we got a dog!

Meet Padfoot!



We've been wanting a dog for a while, but the timing hadn't been right. Actually, I should rephrase that: my son, D, and my husband, J, have been wanting a dog. I'm not really a dog person. Although I can appreciate them, I am more of a cat person. In fact, I had a cat for years that I had to put down 5 years ago, right before my daughter, A, was born. But D has been asking for a dog for a long time, and J was never allowed to have a dog growing up. How could I say no?

However, as I said, the timing was never right. For one, A used to have a tracheostomy, and there was no way I could have a dog in the home while she had the breathing tube. I could just imagine all that dog hair getting in it. And even though she got the breathing tube out last year, she still had the hole in her throat. I wanted to wait until after it was surgically closed---which it was this past June. After she came home, it theoretically would have been a good time, being summer and all, but I wanted to wait until after A was potty trained (which she finally is!)

As mentioned, I am not a huge dog person, but I do like labradors. We really wanted to rescue one, and on Saturday J saw that a lab rescue group was going to have a event. We went thinking we were just going to ask questions, to get information. A full-bred lab wouldn't even be good for us in the first place, as a big dog would easily knock A over with her balance disorder. We just wanted to see what was out there, in terms of a lab mix dog.

The first dog we saw when we got to the event was this puppy: Padfoot.

He is a very interesting mix: labrador retriever and basset hound! From the body up he looks all lab, but he is long like a basset hound and has those short, stubby legs! He's 8 months old, so still a puppy, but he's housebroken, which was VERY important to me. I just got through potty training A, I did NOT want to potty train a puppy too! He is smart, gentle, loving, and the perfect height for my daughter. I fell in love with him at the event. Long story short, we filled out an application, brought him home, passed the home visit, and he's ours!

His name was not originally Padfoot, but we renamed him. Padfoot is character from Harry Potter, which we all love. I'm still reading the books to D; we're now almost done with book 5. In the books, there is a wizard named Sirius Black who can transform into a black dog. When he's in the form of the black dog, his name is Padfoot. The name is perfect, as it satisfies our Harry Potter love and it describes a black dog!

I am utterly in love. I am even letting him lick me, which I NEVER let dogs do...it usually grosses me out but from Padfoot it's great! The kids and J are in heaven. He is fitting in perfectly. He really fits our lifestyle...he's active, but not too active (don't forget he's part basset hound!). I guess I'm turning in to a dog person after all!