Some of you know we had actually been debating getting another dog for Kaleb. He was so devoted to Buddy & such a dog’s dog, that we thought it may have done him a world of good to have another puppy friend.
A couple of things stopped us. His age, but mostly his deafness & blindness. We didn‘t know how he would handle a puppy and didn‘t want to cause more stress on our little guy. But a couple of days before he passed, we’d been back debating¦I thought if we got a slightly older dog (less than 2-3 years old, though) it might have been okay. Young enough to bond with the cats, old enough not to drive Kaleb crazy¦we never got a chance to put any of it into force¦
Now, our tradition has always been to donate to a pet charity on behalf of our animal when they pass. We did the Hervey Foundation for Peachy, The Humane Society with Smokey, & the K9 Care & Rescue Home for Buddy. It was our intention to re-donate to Barrhead on behalf of Kaleb (which we’re still going to do).
We also thought in a month or so, of getting two more dogs. The impetus being the kitties. The longer they have the house to themselves, the more territorial they’ll become. We figured getting puppies and getting them soon would help the bonding b/c the cats themselves are barely out of kittenhood.
Talk about the best laid plans.
I went on the web, intending to go to the Barrhead website, but found myself typing in NASAP‘s instead. I have NO idea what prompted it”NASAP‘s a great charity, but my intention was K9, donations…
On the website was the picture of 2 puppies, brothers. And something in their photos spoke to me”loudly. I showed them to Bear, using him as my barometer and the same feeling resonated with him. I don’t know if it’s because of the bond between Buddy & Kaleb that we thought, ˜these guys shouldn’t have to be separated,’ or if it was (as our daughters both said), the best way to honor the memory and lives of our guys is to ensure two more puppies get forever homes, but something prompted us to fill out the application.
I thought it would take a couple of weeks, (although I had already started panicking that someone was ahead of us, that the puppies would be split up) but nope. They called us yesterday and released them to us last night.
They’ve been in our house for less than 24 hours”heck, less than 12”and already it’s like they were destined to be ours. They’ve settled in with no fear, no anxiety. The cats are watching and relaxed (we have the dogs in the kitchen for now”the best way to orient them to the house is one room at a time, so they only have access to it for the next couple of days). The only time that Gus & Remus are wary is when the dogs bark, but even then, there’s no fear or anxiety on their part, just a kind of œWhat the hell is up with the noise?!
I feel very¦awe-struck by the two new lives we have. They were rescued from a farm where…well, the facts aren’t in stone, but there was the belief they would have ended up on the wrong side of the gun…
The puppies (renamed Milo & Murphy) are barely 9 weeks old, and are a corgie-collie mix. It feels kind of weird to have gotten dogs again so soon after Kaleb, but the girls/Bear/ are so right and confirm my feelings. When I think of my dogs & God looking down, I have to think they’d be happy we honor their love and lives by passing on a forever home, and giving two brothers the chance to live their whole lives together, rather than being separated. I know the foster family was so happy. They’d been praying/hoping that someone would come and take both of the boys.
