Hell Froze Over

We got a dog . . . last summer, and it's taken me this long to come to terms with it enough to blog about it.  Not really, well sorta.  It was all me.  I have no one to blame.  It all started innocently enough.  I was worried about my oldest boy.  I felt like he needed some help coming out of his shell so to speak.  I'm not going to say the God wanted me to get him a dog, but I felt a little inspired.  I researched dogs for 8 months, scoured the Internet and even read a book about puppies.

The problem?  Corey did not want a dog.  It was probably for the best in the long run that it was me trying to convince him.  I could hardly believe myself.  He agreed to let me give it a go, and I started searching for our puppy.  I didn't want one that was too big or too tiny.  I wanted a good family friendly dog.  Most top family dogs were large, so when I saw a beagle on the top ten list, I thought it was a good choice.  I checked with the AKC (American Kennel Club) for good breeders.  I didn't want to promote backyard breeders or puppy mills for sure.  I found a breeder near our home who sent me a picture of a little boy puppy that was available.  I really wanted a girl.

I can hear all of you right now "AWWWW".  Right?  Here's the email chain between Corey and me.

Melissa Neddo	6/5/13
to corey.neddo

Isn't he cute?  

corey.neddo@gmail.com	6/5/13
to me

He is cute.

Corey Neddo	6/5/13
to me

when is that dog available?

Melissa Neddo	6/5/13
to Corey

He's ready now.  The breeder has another litter that's ready in 3 weeks or so.  They have to be eating well before he lets them go.  They're about an hour away.  They're the ones with all the champion gun dogs or whatever.  :)

Corey Neddo	6/5/13
to me

He's pretty cute. Why has someone not snagged him already? 

Melissa Neddo	6/5/13
to Corey

Probably cause he's demented!  Who knows?  We'd go check him out and see if he is aggressive or a freak though.  

So, the kids and I piled in the van to go meet this little guy. So STUPID!

I couldn't resist!  I felt good about it.  So we took him home with us that night.  We were supposed to just meet him, but I figured why drive back the next day to pick him up.  We had to make a quick trip to the pet store for the basics that night.  We had such a great time playing with him and showing him off to the neighbors.  The kids were euphoric.  Then I woke up the next morning.  I sorta had a mental break down.  I offered Keller the money that we paid for him if we took him back.  Keller rubbed my back and said, "It'll be okay mom."  Pathetic.  I felt like I had postpartum depression.  I guess it isn't ALL hormones.  I hung in there and the kids really stepped up to help.

We had a heck of a time naming him though.  I wanted a girl dog named Scout after To Kill a Mockingbird.  A boy dog named Scout isn't as cute.  I thought Flearoy would be funny, but I didn't want to be yelling that out my front door for the next 15 years.  We tried several names out for almost 2 weeks before deciding on Dr. Watson, Sherlock's trusted sidekick.  It fit him.

He was such a cute puppy for what seemed like 3 weeks!  He grew so fast and changed a lot.  Here he is one year later weighing in at 40 lbs.  Still looking cute and just the right size for our family.

Anyway, long story short I wanted to return him many times over the last year.  We even had a family lined up to take him once, but I just couldn't do it to my kids.  They were learning some really good lessons about life, work, forgiveness and love.  Mostly forgiveness since he ate so many of their socks, toys, shoes and precious things.  We survived the puppy stage and now it's so much easier.  It still is a big job, but I'm glad we did it.  And that boy that started this all has really matured over this last year.  He's also grown several inches and shoe sizes since we got Watson.