Welcoming the Newest Addition

Today we welcomed the newest addition to the family. Max, Maxie, Maxwell, Maximus. Whatever name we call him by, he’s quite the sweetest little fellow.

Come on. Look at that face. Look at those eyes. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same. Fine, I admit; I’m a sucker. Still, you think that he’s not cute, you’re just heartless. Go join the Tin Man. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

How does this come about without all the planning that usually goes into large, life changing decisions in my world? Easy. My husband is a softie. A total. Stinkin’. Softie.

We’d been talking about getting a second dog since we got our first, the irrepressible JD. Cockapoo extraordinaire. She’s a great dog. Mellow, sleeps late, not terribly needy but for snuggles and attention. For several reasons, we always wanted a second dog. First, one of my concerns as someone who never had a pet before she was an adult was that if something happened to the family pet while a child was still young (which it inevitably would since the dog would/will be approximately 4 - 5 years old by the time a baby comes along) a kid would be devastated. (See? I’m already looking out for the emotional well-being of my unborn spawn!) Second, when the time came for us to put the good ol’ Doodlebug down, I did not want to be without a pet. I’ve come to love having a dog around. I didn’t want to replace her so soon after what would inevitably be her untimely demise, given any demise would be untimely even at a ripe old age. Third, when we have a human baby, we didn’t want JD to be upset because the human baby was taking away what had theretofore been her domain. A puppy would be far better a choice for ruining her doggie existence. All that notwithstanding, my husband kept telling me that now was not the right time and that no, we wouldn’t be getting another dog any time in the foreseeable future.

Until, apparently, today. Today, I keep getting emails with these adorable links to adorable cockapoo puppies all available to good homes. I found several that were absolutely, without a doubt, undeniably, adorable. Sure, great, thanks for the great big tease.

In the meantime, today we had some pretty intense weather out here in good ol’ CT. There was rain. There was wind. There was, apparently, a funnel cloud that touched down. Around 3:30pm, I get a phone call. My husband rarely calls me. That being said, as soon as I picked up the phone, I knew it didn’t sound like a land line. You know how those sound. Cell phones sound…echoey. They have a distinct almost feedback sound. Fuzzy even, regardless of how clear or how few dropped calls. I knew he was not sitting in his veal fattening pen cube. He says to me, “How would you like to get a dog?” I looked at him like he was insane, or would have had he been in the room. Sadly, he wasn’t. He tells me he’s at Puppy Center, the local puppy mill purchasing pet store. Right, I know. I know all of the reasons not to buy a pet from a pet store. The lecture? Unnecessary. Really, I know. So, I say, “well, it’s raining like crazy and - (as I gaze at the television in apprehension) -wow, there’s a tornado warning in our county.” “Oh, there is? Interesting. Well, do you want a puppy?” How can someone turn that down?

No, really, how do you turn that down?
So, in the middle of pouring torrential rain, I buckle the dog into her car seat (yes, a car seat, at least she doesn’t nearly get me in an accident by climbing around the car) and drive to Puppy Center. Upon entry to the building, I see my husband sitting in a little cube with a tiny little black and white and apricot puppy who vacillates between hiding in the corner and jumping up giving kisses and snuggling between my husband’s legs. I bring in JD who tries to sniff and chase. The puppy, soon to be named Max, cowers a bit at the over exuberance of a three year old dog at least twice his current size. He will, however, soon grow to be somewhere between eight and ten pounds (albeit he will still be smaller than his sister’s 18 pounds). At that point, I think he’ll give his big sister a run for her money.

JD seems to be acclimating well. She occasionally goes to investigate the newbie in the household. I think that she’s thinking this is a temporary situation. Poor little thing. Maxie, for his part, follows her around like, well, a puppy.

I think we’re all going to be one, big, happy, little family.