If you haven’t noticed, we’ve got two dogs. Karissa and I got them when we moved in together as a way for Karissa to not feel alone in the house while I worked long hours and didn’t get home until 8:30pm most nights. They turned 10 this year! Our girl dog, Ruby, has been having issues with one of her legs while our boy dog, Slate, has lumps all over his body and has become a little bit cranky with the kids. Old dogs and kids don’t always mix – they don’t like the high energy as much as they love the attention that kids shower upon them.
With all of us being home for the school year, we have a good reason to get a puppy. If we wait for our dogs to die in 2-5 years, we’ll all be busy in school or working or whatever. So adding an “extra” dog now makes sense. We can all enjoy the puppy together, the puppy can get all the attention it needs while really young, and the kids can have a dog all through their school-aged years.
Adelaide has been craving socialization since school ended, but with the continuing pandemic, having a bunch of friends is just plain tough. She and her brother get along great and are wonderful playmates, but she needs something more. A puppy that she can baby, talk to, and play with seems to be perfect for her right now. It adds some excitement to an otherwise mundane time head.
We weren’t seeking a puppy by any means! Karissa’s sister’s mom, “Aunt” Nancy, fosters dogs for our local shelter. She so happened to foster a surprisingly pregnant dog this summer. It gave birth to 8 puppies on July 3rd. We’ve been visiting the pups every few days since they were 3 days.
As is wont to happen with puppies and kids, a bond was formed. Specifically, Adelaide fell in love with the runt of the litter.
Interestingly, Emerson didn’t really care about the puppies. When we visited, he’d rather pet the big, old dogs and run around the yard. Not to say he didn’t love the pups…
We all had our favorite puppies, though it changed visit-to-visit.
Somewhere along the way, we decided to adopt the little runt of the litter -a pup we had been calling “Runty”.
We loved all of the dogs. If we lived on a farm, we’d keep them all! Here’s the 8 of them, if you’re curious:
When adoption day finally came, Adelaide was so excited to bring “Runty” home with us. She beamed the whole drive home.
Runty did a good job meeting our dogs.
Runty is settling in pretty well. Puppies are difficult at night and exhausting to monitor all day. But we’re all enjoying her. She’s an easygoing dog who enjoys being nearby and doesn’t crave much direct attention so far. She and our boy dog, Slate, are becoming buddies because Slate gets treats when she gets treats. Ruby, the girl dog, isn’t as sold on Runty but mostly avoids her instead of making it a big issue.
We don’t know how big Runty will get, but if this growth chart is any indication, she’ll be our biggest dog before long. But not too huge.
So that’s our big news. Get used to puppy pictures for a while!