Our Newest Family Member

When KK and Coco (see... I told you I would use their nicknames again in a post:) came to visit us, they also brought us our newest family member:  a puppy dog named Nora.  She was Nicole's family dog and they got her about a year ago when she was a brand new puppy.  She is an Old English Sheepdog, the same breed of dog I grew up with, so we know she is a very good-natured type of dog.  Well, Nicole's family's plans changed and they are now moving to Australia for a year (at least) for her husband's schooling (he's getting his MBA).  So, they needed someone to adopt their puppy.

A few months ago I was talking to Chris about when we thought we would be ready to get a dog (we both knew we would want one someday), and Chris's exact quote was, "I don't know, but NOT for a few more years at least."  Then SURPRISE, my sister calls us three days later, explains their situation, and asks if we would want to adopt their dog.  At first I thought there was no way... I didn't know if I was ready for a dog yet and I knew Chris had just told me a few days earlier that he wanted to wait a few more years.  But, the more I talked to my sister about it, the more I started to come around.  So, I gave it a shot and talked to Chris about it.  At first he thought no, then he said, "Well, let me think about it," and then he finally said yes.  Haha, the biggest draw for us was the fact that Nora, being a year old, was still in her fun puppy-ish stage but was ALREADY potty-trained.  That is the worst part about having a new puppy, so it was nice to think that the potty training was already done.  Plus, we knew if we got a dog in the future that we would want it to be an Old English Sheepdog, so this situation actually worked out perfectly for us.

Well, she has arrived and she is a very sweet dog.  She is playful, but not hyper (we're not a fan of hyper dogs), she doesn't bark or growl unnecessarily, and she has been really good with Mitchell.  Mitchell laughs and smiles at her when she walks by, and he's tried to pet her a couple of times, but to be honest, for the most part they just ignore each other and go about their normal business.  Mitchell really hasn't been phased by her; he crawls where he wants to and she moves out of his way.  Overall, we are very happy and excited to have her as a part of our family.

Here is a picture Nicole had of Nora from several months ago with Rhett.  Right before they brought her to us from Missouri, she got into the woods and got cockleburs all over her, so they had to cut them out.  So now, her fur is all short and choppy.  We're probably going to have to take her to a groomer soon to get shaved and evened out, so she can prepare to grow her winter coat for the upcoming cold winter here in Idaho.

Here she is with short hair at Nicole's.  She'll probably be this way the rest of the summer after her haircut.

Here she is in our family room, taking a nap:)  Welcome to our family baby girl!