Pax

Megan didn't want to let go of Halloween and spent Monday and Tuesday in costume. This is what she wore to the polling place on voting Tuesday Nov 4.

We filled in our sample ballots and headed off to Kiernan's school to cast our votes.

I was forced to read my own handwriting.

ha

The weather was chilly and clear all week and I took a ton of trees in color pictures. 

But really we spent the week preparing for Puppy Day.

Kiernan helped construct and test out the crates.

Megan carried around a toy puppy.

The grown-ups went shopping. We got leashes and colors and a harness and the crates and puppy food. We talked to neighbors and coworkers about local veterinarians.

On Saturday David and Kiernan went to pick up Pax.

Megan and I stayed home and paced the floors looking for stray legos and playdoh that a puppy might find appealing.

And then...

She was timid at first, of course. She ate well from the start. She was very affectionate instantly.

Megan is excited and afraid. We are working on not running to and from the puppy. We are working on not letting either of them jump on the other.

Kiernan is very sweet and a little unsure with her. They are both very good with each other when calm and both a little confused and enthusiastic when playing.

Mom is over the moon to have a puppy in the house. She has missed Casper and has had dogs most of her life.

David is focused on training her up right and is feeling a little overwhelmed with our rediscover lack of sleep. Pax adores him and I saw them sitting together on the floor sweetly, many times throughout the weekend.

I have had some anxiety about the whole process as expected.

I think she is a very good fit for the family. I really want Megan to be a dog person or at the bare minimum a person not afraid of dogs. Meg's had some unfortunate formative exposure to my Dads rescue dog Milo. Milo is not kid appropriate (through no fault of his own (puppy mill)).

I want Kiernan to have a real understanding of discipline from the other end and a dog is perfect for that. 

I remember as a kid feeling so safe with our dogs. I remember being able to go out into the wilds of PG county as long as I took a big dog with me.I remember when my dad was going through rehab having this conversation with him about the value of the nonjudgmental unconditional love of dogs. I remember helping David, when we were in college, with his dog Gruffy as his life ended. I remember having a fearful aggressive runt of the litter dog, Banner, who I loved. I remember having a steaming tiny abandoned baby Rottweiler found on a mulch pile. He was my favorite. None of us knew what he would be because he was basically a little black slug when we got him. I remember having a crazy bonehead of a giant Cinnamon Doberman with the spirit of a fun loving jock. I remember the lifesaving rescues of Eva and Casper. I remember scoffing at the first tiny speck of Molly the Miniature Schnauzer and then, the personal turn around when I realized that little dogs sometimes have the hearts of lions.

I have been surrounded by dogs most of my life and none of my married life. This is a weird transition. I was always with my parents dogs except for one failed experiment with Kathryn.

That one failed experiment has haunted me. We gave a puppy back to a breeder. We prepped just like now.  We were burglarized and we were afraid. When we got the puppy our fear and inexperience took over. Kathryn started having panic attacks and I was sick with worry, so we returned him. He is probably fine and dandy and old in someones yard now. The failure of that time really sticks with me though. He was a German Shepherd too.

And now there is Pax.

Wish us luck. 

Come and see her. She is a delight.