Brecken has been wanting a dog for the past year..but has been really mentioning it a lot over the past few months. (I think seeing his cousin's new German Shepherd, Mika, solidified that thought in his mind.) He wanted a chocolate lab..and preferably a puppy. We told the boys that whenever we get a dog, we would like to get one through a shelter, a dog that needs a new home. They agreed that was a good idea (of course, anything to get a dog!) and we started looking online at the shelters here and checked out the dogs pics, read through all the funny little 'about me' ads and laughed at their names. None of the dogs really were all that appealing (to me anyway), but Brecken suddenly decided that any dog with the words 'Adopt me' still flashing behind its name was just the one he wanted! He just wanted a dog-and NOW! We did convince him that we should hold off and wait until we found a puppy that we could all agree on. Ryker preferred a little dog that would stay little, Brecken wanted a lab, and Ben and I both preferred a dog on the larger side as well.
The boys were off to a birthday party on Saturday..an afternoon at the Apple Orchard for Sawyer's 5th birthday! We told them we would go check out the animal shelters after the party if we had enough time. Ben and I met Craig & Anita at some westie festie (she won free tickets..so why not check it out)..and shortly after entering this crazy little outdoor western festival, we see the Second Chance Rescue people sitting at their booth with some puppies..one of them, a cute and mellow little chocolate lab! how could we pass her up! We instantly signed up to take her for a 24 hr trial visit (like we were really going to bring her back), and surprised the boys with a new puppy when we picked them up from their party. It was a quite unexpected surprise for them..but they were excited! At some point, Brecken said, 'I thought i wasn't gonna get a dog 'til i'm 8!'. haha see, he does listen to me!
We named her Hazel. Hazel Mae. She has her first vet check up on Saturday..and she's thought to be about 9-11 weeks old. She was a stray..poor little thing! She's a chocolate lab..but she looks like she is probably mixed with something else..who knows--she sure is cute. She's pretty mellow for a puppy and prefers sleeping instead of barking. She is really skinny right now and just doesn't want to each much. Hopefully in a few days she be a little more adjusted and start to eat.
The boys absolutely love her and Brecken instantly was attached to her and is constantly by her side..she gets to walk to school with him in the mornings and she's there to pick him up after school as well-Breck loves it! Ry's been kinda taking her in from a distance, but has really grown quite fond of her throughout this week when Brecken is at school and he actually gets time to hold her, play with her, take her outside, etc without a big brother telling him what to do and how to do it. He loves telling her 'no!' and 'no biting!' Yesterday afternoon I saw him go over and sit with her on the Futon in the basement and he looks at her and says, 'you wanna know what my name is? I'm Ryker. and you... 'are Hazel mae'. and then just jabbered to her for a bit. it was pretty cute.
We have been working with her on learning basic commands and playing fetch. She is smart and they are quite entertained by it all! (so am I..watching your 5 & 4 year olds giving commands to a puppy who is still trying to learn what they mean, is actually pretty funny).
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