Whatever I Feel LikeGosh!

What a day it has been.

First of all, thank you all so much for all of your kind words. It really meant a lot to me to receive the support that you all gave today. You all touched my heart.

Here’s how the rest of the afternoon went down:

I came home from work once I got the news about the puppies, forced myself to eat lunch and then went online to see if we could find another dog. I found a farm nearby that we had looked at before that had German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers and Chocolate Labs, so I called them. All of the dogs were 8 weeks old, registered with papers, de-wormed and had all their shots. That’s a lot more than what we were getting previously – those dogs had no papers and no shots. I called Rob and we both agreed to think and pray about it for a few minutes before making a decision. We talked again not too much later and both had decided we wanted to get a dog and we wanted to get a dog tonight and not wait to try to do the “perfect” plan again.

When Connor came home, he was surprised to see me here since I’m normally still at work and he saw my face and knew something was wrong. He asked what was going on and I told him that something bad happened, but it’s going to be okay and that when dad got home we’d all talk about it. He said, “Did Tasha (my parents’ dog) die?” Then he sat next to me to tell me how his day went and told me that in science class they watched a video about wolves and dogs and he expressed his deep desire for a dog. “We really need to get a dog, mom.”

Aric came home and was equally surprised to see me here and when he saw I was upset he asked if I got fired. LOL! I told him the same thing I told Connor and we sat around and waited for Rob to get back. He had gone over to the breeder’s house to get the full story and our deposit back. The poor woman running that farm was a mess. I feel bad for her. She has to pay $90 for each of the dogs to be put down. Rob said as he was leaving, they were putting all the pups into the car to be put down and that the mama dog was howling. :-( Damn, it is so heartbreaking. I still can’t believe this happened.

Anyway, when Rob got home, we sat the boys down and just told them the truth. We told them what our original plan was and what happened to the puppies. They were sad and seemed to be relieved to know what was going on with me. Then we told them to get their shoes on so we could go look at some other puppies. I said, “Let me get the box with some towels in it,” and both boys immediately said, “We’re getting a dog tonight?!?!?!” :-) They were so absolutely thrilled and could hardly contain themselves the whole way to the farm. We weren’t sure which dog we would pick out, but we talked about getting more than one and we all agreed to get one, even though I secretly still wanted two. We also said we’d get a female, since that was our original plan and we started getting silly coming up with names.

The facility where the new dogs were was pretty nice – it was a barn-type building with kennels all through out. There were quite a few different litters of dogs there. They were all so totally adorable. The German Shepherds were all gone when we got there, though. So we had our choice of one female Golden Retriever or one of 4 female Chocolate Labs. I initially liked how the Goldens looked better, but the spirit of the Labs won me over. They just looked healthier and happier and felt right. So, we picked one out and were on our way.

So our story has a happy ending – we’ve got a new Chocolate Lab puppy in the house a few days before Christmas. Our perfect plan got foiled, but that’s okay – it just wasn’t meant to be. I’m still so incredibly sad about the other puppies – and still in a bit of disbelief about how the whole day has gone, really. I know when I walk into my office tomorrow morning and see the picture frames with Rob and I holding the Yellow Lab, I’ll probably cry again. Those dogs had an awfully short life on this earth, bless their little hearts and souls.

And now… pictures of our new little one, who is tentatively being called Grace/Gracie.

I’m not sure if she’s in this one or not – this is her litter, though.

And home with her new family: