A New Family Member

Friday, 12-26-08
~Sandy~

Today we added a dog to our family, a pure bred Golden Retriever - Sandy. Her name was Stubbee because she has a short tail, but we didn't like the name much so I thought of Sandy because it is similar sounding. I still can't believe that we have done this. Elissa has been wanting a pet for awhile now and has really wanted a dog or cat. I am a cat person, so I would get one in a second but Darin is not so eager. Since this summer I have been telling Elissa that she can get a dog when she turns 5. It seemed so long away and we hoped that she would just give up the idea, but she tells everyone in the neighborhood that she gets a dog on her next birthday. There are several people who walk their dog every evening and the kids pretty much accost them if they are outside. We have a golden in our loop named Bailey and the kids loved playing with him this summer. They have an empty lot next door and Bailey was always outside on his lawn, so when we walked by we would throw tennis balls for him. One day Elissa even invited herself to go throw them in the water for Bailey. The owner is super nice (can't remember his name at the moment) and he brought us to their front lawn and let Elissa throw the balls into the water. The kids had a lot of fun. So I knew it wouldn't be long until we gave in and got a dog. I could do with out a dog, but I believe the kids should have a pet. I refused to get a puppy because I knew that that would be WAY to much work. So this fall I was talking to my hair stylist (Cindy), who is also part of Golden Retriever rescue in Olympia (she houses rescue dogs) and told her to keep an eye out for us. We were thinking that Spring of 2009 would be when we made the plunge. Well on the 14th I got an email from Cindy asking me if I wanted a dog for Christmas. A very "out of the blue" request! She knew a family that was ready to give up their dog because they just didn't have time for her. It wouldn't go through rescue, so she would be free and Cindy knew that she was a very loving and mellow dog. We talked about it and didn't think we were ready for that yet and told her that we thought we would pass this time. Then she came back to say "what if she got them to keep her until the Spring or maybe Cindy would keep her until the Spring", so that made us rethink our decision. We told Cindy that we would come meet her after Christmas. Of course if we met her and liked the dog then we wouldn't be able to leave without her. We liked the idea that we knew the home that she was born in and that Cindy knew her temperment and Cindy would always find another home for her if we found that we just couldn't handle it. So we went on Friday and met a really pretty, sweet girl that we decided to bring home.
Darin has her ball, so she is keeping a close eye on it.

Zach is a little hesitant to pet her. He still says "ow" every time she brushes him or licks him. I'm not sure what that is all about. He acts like he is a little jealous of the attention she gets. Normally he loves to pet the dogs in the neighborhood and Papa's dog.

Elissa loved her at once. She was rolling balls down the hall for her.

Pretty girl!

Zach extending a hand of friendship. :0)

We said we would take her and out we went to load her up.

Our first family photo.....a good one I think!

Darin had to pick her up to put her in the back of the Tahoe.

Riding in the back wondering what is going on.

We are now home!

Elissa is already wrestling around with her.

Sandy is ready to get the ball. Her favorite thing in the whole world.

Again ready for the ball. She will bring the ball to you to throw and if you don't then she'll let it go and kind of chase it around. So funny! She is a fanatic about the ball.

We are trying to get her to go in her kennel by throwing the ball in. It worked!

Darin and Elissa are going out to take her for a walk before bedtime.

Some last hugs before going to bed.

~Day 2 with Sandy~
The kids think her kennel is their fort. Sandy does really good with them climbing in there and all around her. Zach is saying "ow" because Sandy is touching him.....silly guy.

Luckily we got the big cage!

See how Sandy has her eye on the ball....

It just took one night for her to love her kennel. She is at home in there now.

Elissa and Sandy went out to play in the remaining snow.

Well, we have had her for a few days now and she is a wonderful dog. We just heard her bark for the first time this morning. Darin came down at 5:15am this morning with Zach and there were no lights on, so she didn't know who was coming and barked. As soon as Darin turned on the lights she laid down and wiggled her tail. Then after that she barked at something outside. She must be feeling more at home. :o) She is making a nice addition to our family.