Living Life to the MACKSimum: A Doggy "Tail"

We were always destined to have a dog. . . When Big C was just a baby he chose a stuffed puppy to be his "cuddly pal", his forever friend. To this day he still sleeps with it and so naturally as we added children to our brood, each one of them also got a puppy to sleep with. For as long as I can remember they have asked to have a dog - our reply was always "Maybe when you are older." We also said, "Maybe when no one is in diapers." "Maybe when you can help take care of a dog." "Maybe when you can show responsibility." We always had a comeback, we always had a some day. A little over a year ago we knew that the time was coming. We knew that we couldn't hold them off forever. Then 6 months ago, the princess found a picture of a chocolate lab. She showed it to Daddy and said, "This is the dog I want." She pinned it to our bulletin board in our kitchen so with every meal we ate at the table the picture was staring back at us. Her asking became more persistent. Every chance she could get she would add her brothers into the requests. I started watching the Humane Society's website for dogs they had up for adoption. Daddy wasn't so sure. His brother raised his dog from a puppy and encouraged him that puppies were the way to go! Daddy's aunt and uncle breed chocolate labs and so in early November we made a decision, the next litter of pups they had we would consider getting one. I started to mentally prepare for a nightmare of puppy rearing. I figured I would have until spring to become fully ready. Our big surprise came from a Facebook status update. Aunt K's post said, "Gotta be smarter than the dogs, new puppies will be arriving in December." OH MY GOODNESS! Just what we had been waiting for. A total God moment! On December 9, 6 beautiful puppies were born. 2 females were available for us to choose from. We decided we would NOT, tell the kids we were getting a dog. This would be a surprise we would bring home.

The Princess wrote a letter to Santa asking for a dog. Her letter was the sweetest thing ever. Now I am wishing I had made a copy of it, or taken a picture of it, but at the moment we put it in an envelope and added a stamp and into the mailbox it went. Her letter went like this,

"Dear Santa,

I want to rel dog wif her hair being brown. I will lev you yume kookes for you. Love The Princess"

On December 17, we went to see the puppies. The kids were invited by Aunt K to come visit the puppies to see how small they were and to start socializing them. They do not have any idea that it could possibly lead to more. They truly believe Daddy does not want a dog and therefore they will not get one. The puppies were 8 days old. They have no teeth, eyes still closed although one was starting to open, and they do not bark - they make a grunting sound somewhat like a pig and duck mixed together. Completely crazy - but while we were there one of the pups learned to bark and started to squeak a little. The princess loved the pups, she held one female (the non white chest) for the whole time. Big C put a pup in his coat and they just snuggled. PeeWee loved feeding the momma, Nicky, bones the best. The puppies were so good, you could lay them on their backs and they didn't squirm - I was told that is a sign of a laid back dog that is easy to train. The picture of the 2 puppies is the 2 females (of which we hope 1 will be ours) One of the girls is quite a chunk and holds her own with the boys - that would be the puppy the Princess held most of the time, the other is a little girl and has a white cross on her chest (this characteristic goes back to the pup's father's grandmother (they have been breeding for a long time) and the white spot has rarely appeared. It is still too early to really get to see their head shape, facial features and personality. Hopefully we will be able to visit them often to watch their growth. They weighed about a 1/2 pound when born and when we saw them they were up to 2 pounds. The mother weighs between 65 and 75 lbs and is 23 inches to the shoulders and the daddy weighs 110 lbs and is 28 inches to the shoulders. This was so exciting to experience with the kids. I have never seen puppies so small before.

How cute is this face? Love the tongue sticking out!

December 21, we went to see the puppies again. They are about 3 weeks old and I can't believe how much they are changing!

In the pen with all the pups!

How can you say no we won't get a dog to this face?

Momma's little girl! Love the white cross on her chest!

Lil C playing with Pete - what a BIG dog!!!

I wrote this email January 10, 2012 to family members following our puppy process:

"God has definitely had His hand in this whole ordeal. The surprise puppy arrival was very much a God thing and during Christmas break we were able to go visit the puppies again. This time they were 3 weeks old and starting to walk around and all had their eyes opened. I still loved the little girl with the white on her chest. The Princess still loved the biggest girl who happens to be the second largest puppy. The boys like all of them so they would be easy to convince. We had so much fun playing with the pups and their parents. After we left some strange and bizarre thing happened and my tiny girl got out of the pen and somehow got hurt. She died the morning of New Year's Eve. Aunt K was devastated and hated to make a phone call to tell me. I was very upset about the puppy. I told Princess about the puppy dying and she said, "But that was your puppy Mommy, the biggest girl loved me best. That is MY puppy!" So I believe God knew that I would have convinced everyone to pick the one I liked and I needed to take a step back because this dog is for the kiddos - so here she is. This is our crazy, big, brave, ornery Brown Eyed Girl. Well actually as you can see in the pictures she has blue eyes right now. She is the first puppy to go outside to explore. Guess she will fit in well with our love to be outside. I am also sending a picture of her biting Nicky (the mother)'s tail while she is eating. A good way to find herself in big trouble. She is full of life and we can't wait. The puppies are a month old now and we still have a few weeks before we can bring her home. The kids ask all the time if they can have one and our answer is still - I don't know. They truly believe they will not get a puppy. We are still holding strong to our decision to not tell them we are getting a dog until we bring her home (especially after the bizarre accident - I couldn't handle telling the kids we can get one and then something happen.) The plan is- Mike will take off work early and call home saying he has a special surprise. I will be ready to get all the photos of the kids' reactions. Mike and I also go a copy of the family tree and I have been working on possible registered names and nicknames. I have a list of 5 with only about 2 that I really could stand yelling on a daily basis. We will give the kids options and let them choose what name we will call her, but for now, she is our Brown Eyed Girl and she is loved!!!!