Guest Blogger, Abbie, is mom to two of the sweetest little girls in the pack.
I met my husband in 2015. When I moved in, which is a story all its own, he had a dog named Tucker. Fast forward to 2017, I had puppy fever. I knew we were going to be a long-term family, and I was ready for our family to grow. I had been asking and asking for a puppy, but I kept getting vetoed.
On November 17, 2017 on my way home from work, I stopped by the Adams County SPCA. They had just received a transport of dogs from Tennessee, and in this group of dogs, I found her. There were two girls about 12 weeks old, sisters named “Thelma” and “Louise.” I knew one of them was going to come home with me, I just couldn’t pick. I asked my husband to stop by on his way home from work, along with a photo of me with one of the girls, and he begrudgingly agreed. When he arrived, we got both of the girls in a room with us and discussed the pros and cons of a puppy (again) and if he had to pick one, which personality he liked better. Unbeknownst to us, another couple had already decided that they wanted to take “Louise” home that day, but that actually worked out for the best because, “Thelma” was our top choice. My now husband knew that there would have to be an application, a visit with our existing dog Tucker, and that he was planning on using that time to talk me out of getting the puppy… But lucky for both of us, that’s not how it worked out. He did not know I had already completed an application and had it approved, months before. The manager of the Adams County SPCA and my now husband actually know each other, and considering she knew him, she knew his dog Tucker, and the sister “Louise” was being adopted, the manager didn’t want 12 week old “Thelma” to be all alone at the shelter if she could have a good home to go to. When I heard “you can take her home tonight, if you want…” I honestly stopped listening. I signed the paperwork in a blissful blur and took my new baby home. And that’s the story of how we got Lexi!
On September 9, 2018, I married the love of my life. The following week on our honeymoon, my brother who was dog sitting for us, called to tell me that the kids were playing, and Tucker yelped and hid under the table… and had since been limping – which was extremely odd. When we returned, Tucker didn’t stop limping. It seemed that he was changing paws, so we tried to give it time – he was kind of a drama king and would fake not feeling well for attention. When the limping didn’t stop, we took him to the vet three times, before I went elsewhere for a second opinion. The new vet did an Xray after noticing muscle atrophy in his right shoulder, and a lump above his elbow. It was our worst fears coming to fruition. He was diagnosed with bone cancer… we discussed options, and on December 4th, 2018 – the day before his 8th birthday, after living the best few weeks of his life, Tucker crossed the rainbow bridge.
Lexi fell into a depression, and I would be lying if I said we didn’t also. But Lexi had never been an only dog. We adjusted to a new normal, but I knew eventually we would need to get a second dog again. Lexi started to get over excited every time she would see another dog. She wanted to play so badly, and playing with her humans just wasn’t the same. We did everything we could to give her a fulfilled life. Lexi got to go to the beach with us, we tried to get her to dog parks (before we knew better). And it was one time in the spring 2019, my husband and I took her to the dog park, that a shift happened. No one else was at the dog park, Lexi seemed fine, but when a dog from the houses close by got loose and ran over to the outside of the fence, he saw Lexi light up for the first time since Tucker passed. Her eyes were bright, her face was smiling, her tail was waggy, she wanted to play. In that moment, my husband understood why I was again asking for another puppy, despite the loss of Tucker. He told me that I could start looking.
Anyone that knows me, knows when I research, I really research. And I obsess over it until I find my answer. Well, with that green light, I spent all afternoon, night, and early morning, looking for adoptable rescues, putting in applications, trying to find the right baby for our family. And then I found her.
Thanks to Facebook, a friend had shared a rescue page called K9 Crazy Puppy Rescue out of Camp Hill. They had a litter of boxer mixes from Mississippi that they called the “V” litter because all of the pups had given “V” names. I fell in love with their personalities that shown through in the photos, especially “Vienna.”
When my husband woke up on the morning of June 2, 2019 he said, “so what have you found?” and I responded, “do you want to go meet a puppy today?” He begrudgingly agreed, and we went to Camp Hill, “just to look.”
When we arrived, we spoke with the woman who runs the rescue, and discussed with her my thoughts, what we were looking for, and that I was drawn to “Vienna.” She brought “Vienna” out to the yard to meet us, and the pup immediately was so excited and happy that she started peeing, climbed my husband (still peeing), and kissed him like crazy. We had been chosen, we didn’t have a choice. The woman that runs the rescue asked if we wanted to meet any of the others, but we declined – when you’ve been chosen, there isn’t a choice. I signed the paperwork in a blissful blur and took our new baby home. And that’s the story of how we got Sasha!
For as much as my husband didn’t want more dogs, he loves them and they love him. And as much as I want to save every dog that comes across my path, I know that our family is currently complete. With Lexi at 2 years old, and Sasha at 10 months old, I’m hoping that there will be a LONG time before anything happens to either of them. They are the children we would otherwise not have, and they are our everything.
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