Let me begin by saying I know having three dogs is insane. It borders on hoarding.  It isn’t wise.  It is generally a bad idea.   I know all of this.  However I’ve been aching for a puppy for a long time now.  I kept talking about it…the kids were on board but my husband…well…he didn’t think I was serious.  He gives me too much credit.

 

Last weekend I thought I’d just take a little drive over to the Humane Society.  I mean I was just curious. I had heard about their fabulous new facility and I thought it might be nice to check it out. 

Whoops!

 

This little sweetie captured my heart. She just walked right over to me. I can’t explain it but I was a goner. None of the other dogs acted the same. I honestly wasn’t planning to come home with a puppy. I really wanted to talk myself out of getting a puppy….at least for another month or so.

 

At the Humane Society you have to fill out a form to even hold a puppy. I wanted to hold this puppy…so obviously I HAD to fill out the form.  As long as you are holding said puppy you have “dibs”. I wanted the family to come see her….I held her for over an hour. She sat nicely on my lap the whole time. She was so good.

...and for some odd reason my husband agreed to get the puppy. We stood there in the shelter and discussed all the pros and cons. I still knew it wasn’t my best decision to get a puppy…but I’m calling it my mid life crisis.

We have had her for a few days and although it is a pain to have a puppy…she is a really cool dog!  Her name is Cleo....you know from the hit TV series (in Australia) (If you are an eight year old girl)H2O Just Add Water.  Cleo is the name of "j's" favorite mermaid on the show....sigh....That's what good parents do...they let their kids name the pets.

I mean look at those ears. She is one million times better than our first dog was as a puppy. To start with she is sweet. She loves to snuggle. She is funny. I mean her unabashed joy for life is delightful and her uncoordinated puppy antics are so fun to watch.

Her favorite spot is cuddling in a lap under a blanket.

Look at that face...

Adding a third dog to the family is interesting.  I researched a lot about having three dogs.  Basically two dogs is two dogs but three dogs is a PACK.  One cool thing about having two middle-aged dogs is that they are teaching little Cleo how to be a dog.  She loves our other dogs and she brings out a new level of playfulness in them that I have never seen before.

 

 

She is really well behaved (for a puppy).  Today we had a long car trip to the mountains...she slept on the kids laps the whole way there and back.  We stopped and the kids took her for a quick walk and she went potty....

 

I had maybe forgotten what a pain potty training was...especially getting up in the night or early morning and standing out in the cold.  I had also maybe forgotten how puppies like to chew everything they can reach.  But so far her cuteness outweighs her naughtiness.