When In Doubt, Blame Your Sister

It's all Karen's fault.

She asked us to dog-sit for her aged poochie over Thanksgiving break. Now, to be honest, this is typically not my cup of tea. As much as I love doggies - and you KNOW I am equally a dog AND cat person - I do not like strange dogs roaming my home and sniffing my things and making deposits on the carpet and just generally doing doggie things that I would never allow a dog of my own to do in my home. However, her poor sweet Annie is literally on her last legs, and what kind of damage could a dog like that really do? It was agreed upon that Annie would spend her vacation in the "Trading Spaces Resort" (i.e. our den downstairs). It has french doors that go right outside, so the poor thing wouldn't even have to manage steps. And while Annie did have a few potty accidents, I gave her lots of grace as I will probably be having my own potty accidents when I am that age in dog years.

So, while Su Su Prettiness Queen of the Kitties was quite miffed and reclusive during Annie's visit, the boys were thrilled to have a dog they could pretend was their own. And, of course, we have talked about getting a dog at some point. You know, some point being sometime in the nebulous future when all of my children are potty-trained and the cat isn't old and I'm not working full days and the stars align and Adam Lambert learns that a little eyeliner goes a long way.

Only, it turns out, that after having Loaner Dog for a few days, we were all suddenly struck with Dog Fever. Our computer would magically go on it's own to http://www.petfinder.com/, and it would scroll through pages - all by itself - of adorable dogs. Ones that looked like they would need a Casey home to live in. Ones with names like "Skippy" and "Cuddles."

Alas, who knew that trying to adopt a dog from a shelter rivaled trying to gain admittance to an ivy league school? Skippy was actually adopted prior to our contacting the shelter (they just hadn't taken down her profile) and Cuddles...well, it seems we weren't even her "safety" option, as our application didn't make the cut. Seriously. Our application. The one we had to have references for. I think the reason given was something about SAT scores not being high enough.

So, after receiving our second rejection notice last Monday, I mentioned to Alan that waiting until after the holidays to pursue a dog seemed like a good idea. I'm all, you know, let the holiday hoopla pass us on by before we add to the chaos of our lives. Alan nodded along to my sage advice.

And then five minutes later? He's pointing out an ad for a dog on Craigslist. Enter Lucy:

The woman who posted the ad rescued Lucy and her "brother" Ricky (ha! get it?) as they were running down the road near her (65 acre farm). Both dogs were terribly skinny - especially the male - and after listing them on various local lost dog sites, she advertised on CL for new homes for these pups. Ricky sounded very "hound-y", but Lucy was described as about the sweetest dog on earth. Which she is. So after a week of the most fun emails with the Doggie Rescuer/Whisperer, we went to pick up our new girl last night. Aside from multiple potty incidents (we so don't know what we're doing, and maybe she's just a smidge bewildered...evidently she's never been an inside dog until she was rescued), she really has been the perfect dog. On the way home, she fell asleep between the boys with her head on Matthew's leg. She was so quiet in her crate last night and is so gentle and sweet. She still looks a bit scared and she hasn't acquired that happy doggie grin yet, but we'll get her there. Although, Alpha Cat (A.K.A. SSPQoK) would be happy for Lucy to wear that submissive look forever.

And you know what? It's been wonderful to have our own strange dog roaming our home and sniffing our things (oh! is she a sniffer!) and even making her doggie deposits on the carpet.

Welcome home, Lucy!