Taking a Walk

Last weekend was spent up in the Flathead valley with Erik's folks. We sort of got out of the smoke that had plagued the Missoula valley for weeks and enjoyed a beautiful weekend with family. We decided on Saturday to drive up to Lake Mary Ronan and take a walk/hike around the lake. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a walk.

We all went, even Cody, of course. 

Lake Mary Ronan is smaller than Flathead, but it definitely has it's own beauty. We walked through an area with lots of cattails which had some cool fall colors going on.

It never ceases to amaze me how diverse and beautiful the landscape around Montana is. There's lakes, mountains, cattails, bushes, trees and so much more.

I'm truly grateful to live in such a beautiful area, and that we can drive just a few hours from our house to find such treasures.

Our dry summer was pretty obvious in the siltyness of the road at one point and the bushes and trees which were already turning so many fall colors. 

It didn't deter us in our walk however. 

Of course we had to stop a few times. Once to cross a ditch in which we found HUGE crawfish and once or twice to pet the pup. 

We finally got to the actual lake and spent some time chilling out there. Cody waded out in the water just enough to get his feet wet, but not too far.

While we skipped rocks and explored.

And, of course, just chilled out.

Once Cody was done in the water he came over to where Erik and I were perched on a rock and tried to crawl up into my lap. I didn't want a wet dog sitting on me, so I didn't let him.

So then he went over to Erik. Which is funny because he usually chooses me over Erik for some reason, probably because I'm the one home with him most days. Would Erik let the wet puppy, who was kinda cold and wet, sit in his lap?

Well, because under that hard exterior shell, Erik is actually quite the softy so yes, he let the cold, wet puppy cuddle with him until we left.

Seriously, though, how could you say "no" to that cute face?

We enjoyed this view of Lake Mary Ronan.

Papa and Grandma enjoyed hanging out with the kiddos.

Kiddos enjoyed playing with the puppy.

And puppy probably enjoyed the whole thing, but especially being able to cuddle with "Daddy".

And a good time was had by all. :)

The Story of How Cody Joined Our Family

The day before Cody came to life with us I went to the Farmers Market and the mall with my mother-in-law and the girls. Erik and his dad were floating the river and fishing that day. Us girls decided to take our produce home and eat lunch before heading off to the mall for some clothes shopping for the girls. During that driving around we noticed some folks set up on the grass near Wal-Mart with puppies for sale. We saw the sign that said "Golden Retriever Puppies" and could see the cute, furry little bodies playing around in the grass. We could tell they were adorable even as we drove by, which is exactly why I didn't stop.

I said out loud to both Karen and the girls, "I am not stopping they are so cute, I'm sure we'd fall in love." And so I didn't. Even as we drove past them three times, I never stopped. I just drove on by because I knew it would be trouble if I stopped.

That night I mentioned to Erik we'd seen them and how cute they were. He said something about I wonder if they'll be there tomorrow, but that was it. The next day we were dinking around the house, doing homework with the girls and getting ready for Monday. I was in the laundry room starting some laundry, Erik was outside, chatting on the phone and said to me through the window, "I'll be right back." He hopped in my car and took off. I had no idea where he was going.

Turns out, he'd driven down to where they were selling the puppies. He talked to the guy and looked at the pups and came home pretty much with his mind decided, but his hands empty. He came in and said, "They have a really cute, calm one down there. What do you think? It'll be a lot of work, so are you ready?" I was sort of surprised to hear those words that day, but not that I heard them. I knew that someday we'd get a dog and after our fiasco with Pedro, we knew that we needed a big, outside dog. We'd recently camped with friends that had Golden Retrievers and we thought that would be a perfect dog. Not to mention it's one of the breeds of dog that Erik has always liked. 

It seemed like these pups were maybe meant to be. So, I said "Yes. I'm ready for a puppy." (Ha ha, little did I know I had no idea what I was saying.) So Erik took Kera with him down to see if we could get a deal on a pup. A couple hours later he came home with this cute, furry little guy that we'd decide to name Cody.

Erik said he picked the lightest colored and calmest of the litter, and I believe him. Cody is so good already at staying put in his "spot" in the house. He's playful like a pup but is pretty chill too. He loves the girls, and me too since I spend every day with him. He's definitely a lover and not a fighter.

He's a great dog, but he is a puppy and by default that means he takes a little more attention and responsibility. And it's been a bit exhausting and stress-inducing, but each day it gets easier and I'm more confident in our "puppy-rearing" skills. We've had to have a couple talks with the girls about counting the cost of having him and how they are responsible for him as well. They've both stepped up to the plate so wonderfully, taking him out to potty, playing with him, taking him on walks and even *gasp* picking up his poop without complaining!

Some days I still can't believe he's a part of our family.

I'm excited to see what kind of dog he grows into and all the fun we'll be able to have with him like hiking, camping and playing outdoors.

It's a Puppy Life

Cody still is stealing quite a bit of my time as of late, especially on top of the time I am trying to give my human family, house and friends. I'm so grateful I'm not working a full-time job, it would be really tough to do that as well. One thing I've realized over the past week is that I don't know much about puppy rearing. I grew up around dogs, but never did any of the puppy training stuff. And so, I have lots of questions, doubts and fears. I know when it all boils down to it, he is just a dog, but I still would like to do this right since he's a part of our family. So I've been googling up a storm and talking to friends who've raised pups, which is interesting because so much of the advice is contradictory.

I thought it would be interesting to see if any of my blog readers had puppy advice for me/us? I'm all ears....I'm particularly interested in how much should he be eating? crate/kennel training tips, self-administration of puppy shots, leash training, puppy classes, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Puppies are good for....

I've learned a few things in the past week of being a "Puppy Mom". Puppies are good for:

• Getting you outside. I've spent more time outside playing with him and taking him on mini-walks in the past week than I normally would. 
• Making you laugh. Our puppy has the tendency to be clumsy and it's usually funny at his expense. I've giggled at his silly antics a lot this week.
• Warming your heart. He's so stinkin' cute and good that I can't help but smile when looking at him or playing tug o' war with him. Total stress relief.
• Cutting down on technology time. Obviously I haven't been online since I've not been blogging, but my kids have had very little screen time this past week. Instead they've been hanging out with Cody inside or outside. One day they spent all afternoon after school outside except for 30 cumulative minutes spent eating, doing homework and bathing.

I love our new little member of the family and he's good for a lot. Unfortunately, there's a few things he's not good for.

• Sleeping. Okay, so actually this isn't too bad. We haven't had to get up with him in the middle of the night like you would with a human baby, but he is ready to get out of his kennel early in the morning, so there's not really anymore sleeping in around here. 
• Productivity. All that time I'm spending watching him is time I'm not cleaning, cooking, bookworking or doing other such "jobs" that I should be doing. I usually bide my time til the girls get home from school and put them on "puppy patrol" so I can work uninterrupted for a few hours.
• Sitting down for longer than 30 minutes. He'll snooze during the day but not usually longer than 30 min to an hour, so I'm on my feet a lot, which is good, but exhausting!

My excuse

School had started and I was getting into a routine. I finally had some uninterrupted time during the day to do various things like clean, cook, workout and even blog. I was starting to get some ideas for cool things to write about. And then something happened.

One beautiful Sunday afternoon Erik came home with this soft and cuddly Golden Retriever puppy.

Whom we named Cody,

and have welcomed arms wide open wide into our home and family.

I've been a little busy being a puppy Mom and haven't been able to blog. But I promise that when we finally settle down into a routine and I have some time I'll tell you the story about how Cody came to us. For now just look at how cute he is!

For the love of a greyhound

Growing up it seemed like my family always had pets of some sort. There were cats, lots of dogs, several birds, some rabbits and even an ill-fated rat.  The one consistent pet was most definitely dogs, although the type of dog varied wildly. Most of our family dogs were probably mutts, but it was not too long before I left for college that my family was introduced to greyhounds. Greyhounds are bred for racing, but once they stop winning, they need a new home, which is thankfully provided to them through rescue greyhound adoption agencies. Kimba was our family's first greyhound and she lived with us for nearly ten years before she died. We loved her so much (my mom especially) that they have adopted several more since. 

This is Rainy, my family's youngest greyhound. She was pretty young when they adopted her, probably only 3, which means she probably didn't win too many races! She's sweet, friendly and super affectionate. We joke that greyhounds can go from 0 to couch potato in 40 seconds. 

Greyhounds make great pets because they are intelligent, very sociable and love people. To let them off leash (only in a fenced area because they are sight dogs and will give chase a squirrel or other rodent if the opportunity arises) and watch them run is really quite amazing. They are really loving dogs. We sometimes call them my "sisters" because they are truly part of the family.

This is Gidget (the brindle) and Rainy again. We adopted Gidget when she was older, she won like 99% of her races but now that she's older she isn't very quick. Her hips bother her and stairs are a real hardship. I'm afraid she'll probably leave us fairly soon. :( 

I would love a greyhound of my own, but we can't because of Erik's allergies and he's not too big on inside animals. (Greyhounds pretty much live inside all the time, they have almost no body fat to keep them warm in a Montana winter!) So, I am content to go over to my folks' house once in a while and love up on their greyhounds.

Pedro

My kids and I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time. It seems like everyone we know has at least one, and the girls love them. There has even been a few times when I've been at the grocery store only to find Lindsay has written "dog" on the shopping list. Erik wasn't as excited to get one, he's always been the one to bring up all the cons when listing pros/cons to getting one. Part of the problem was that he grew up with a great dog that lived outside 24/7, even in the Wyoming winters. I, on the other hand, grew up with mostly small to middle sized dogs that live inside, sit on your lap and sleep with you. Coming from two totally different view points on dogs has made it difficult for us to decide what to do for our family. We've hemmed and hawed about building a fence here, where we live now, so that we could get a dog that lived mostly outside, but then when you throw in the "should we move to the sticks" question, it gets all complicated and we just don't make a decision. We would tell the girls that we would get a dog, someday.

Well, that someday came on Monday night. Erik had taken Kera to the mall for a Daddy-Daughter date, and they'd ended up at the pet store. He's been doing these dates for a couple weeks, taking turns with the girls, and they usually end up at the mall for ice cream, so they've been in the pet store quite a bit. Each time he'd make faces at this little puppy and it would play at him through the glass. He became quite smitten. So, on Tuesday they had the worker get the puppy out so they could hold him. He texted me a picture of the puppy with the question, "What do you think?". We texted back and forth about price, etc and I finally left it up to him. I held my breath, wondering if he'd really, truly buy a dog. Moments later, I get his text, "We're getting him, I"ll be a few minutes late."

When I first told Lindsay, who'd stayed home with me, she didn't react. She thought for sure it was another one of Daddy's jokes. There's no way he'd really be bringing home a dog. I explained to her that it was real, and I wasn't joking and she could hardly contain herself. Erik says that when he told Kera at the pet store that they were getting it, that her eyes got bigger than he'd ever seen. Several times after arriving home with the puppy, Kera said that we were the luckiest people to have gotten this dog.

Part of the reason that this little chihuahua worked his way into Erik's heart at the pet store is his demeanor.You see its pretty wild that Erik brought home a little dog when he's always leaned towards retrievers and labs, big dogs you can take hunting and camping. But, he is the sweetest, calmest (well, as calm as a puppy can be) loving puppy. We all immediately fell in love. He loves attention and being held and kissing our cheeks and hands.

That night Erik and I talked names and decided we'd call him Pedro. It seemed perfect for the little guy.

He did great the first night in his kennel--only whined a few minutes and was quiet the rest of the night. I was amazed to find the kennel dry in the morning as well. So, for the potty training aspect, he was not doing too bad. We had to watch him like a hawk, but I think after a while he would've caught on.

I got to spend quite a bit of time with him on Tuesday. We played outside, he followed me around the kitchen and house and cuddled on the couch for several hours. It was pretty obvious he took a liking to me, even when Erik and the girls were home that evening, he followed me around.

Tuesday night, after the girls were in bed and Pedro was kenneled, Erik brought up the subject of returning Pedro and I was only partially surprised. Maybe part of me wondered if this was really real, I don't know, but I wasn't totally shocked to hear him present the idea. But I was truly and completely saddened.

Turns out Erik's allergies were really bothering him. We knew he had a cat allergy, thus no cats. But dogs? No clue. Not until we had a little guy living and cuddling with us for a whole day. I can't ask my husband to take drugs just so he can breath everyday just so we can have a dog. Then we talked more about how we could take him camping or hiking and how he really was too small for our lifestyle. Part of me was relieved to think I'd be relieved of "puppy duty" but I cried and cried because I already loved the little guy and couldn't bear to see him go. I felt so bad for crying about it, because I knew it made Erik feel badly, but it just was a tough situation that no one had foreseen. We finally made the decision that Erik would take him back on Wednesday while we still had the 48 hour return possibility.

I had a hard time falling asleep, I just couldn't stop thinking about how hard the next day would be. Saying goodbye to Pedro and breaking the news to the girls. I kind of wished that we could've just returned him the moment we made the decision. I felt like it was torture to have to care for him any longer knowing that he wasn't going to be a part of our family.

We didn't tell the girls in the morning, thinking it would ruin their whole day. I made sure they both got some good time with him before they left for school. Then, since we had til 10, I played with him and let him cuddle for several hours before Erik came home to take him. I felt ridiculous crying over a dog that I'd only known a little over 24 hours, but I could not stop the tears. They fell and fell. It was extremely sad. (I'm even crying now, thinking about it. I'm such a wuss). Bless his heart, Erik kept asking me if I wanted to keep him and try and make it work, but I said no. I couldn't ask my husband to be miserable for years and years like that. I know it was extremely hard for Erik to do what he did next.

Erik loaded him up and drove off. I guess Pedro knew something was up as soon as he was in the van and he did his cute little whine most of the way to the mall. Erik parked and called his folks, wondering if there was any alternative allergy help besides drugs. He wanted desperately to be able to turn around and drive Pedro back to where he belonged. At one point he left Pedro in the car, intent to go into the pet store and ask if they knew of any alternative. But he didn't make it very far and turned back, knowing that he had no choice. I guess Pedro was happy to see the pet store, he's so social I'm sure he'll love being around the other puppies again, and he'll make some family very happy when he's finally adopted for good. I know he probably won't even remember the short period of time he spent in our family.

I know it was hard for me because I did fall in love with Pedro, having spent the most time with him. But  knowing that we were possibly going to break our children's hearts when we broke the news to them yesterday was most definitely what hurt the most. As parents we want to protect them, so knowing what we had to tell them was going to extremely disappoint them was really hard. I did not look forward to it. Erik made sure he was home when they came back from school so that he could tell them, which I truly respect.

It was heartbreaking to watch their little faces fall as Erik explained the dog was gone. Lindsay burst into tears and ran to her room while Kera sat there kind of frozen. We loved on them and cried with them most of the afternoon, even brainstorming how we could get a dog for keeps someday in the future--giving them hope that this was something we all really wanted. They were angry and sad, which is understandable and I tried to remind them that we all loved Pedro and no one wanted to get rid of him, but that sometimes we have to do things in life that are hard. Lindsay has shown the most emotion, which makes me hope she gets over it quickly. Kera has held things in, which will probably mean she'll take longer to come to terms with everything. In the mean time, I will print the pictures we have of him for them. And we will have fun as a family--we rented a movie last night and talked of going to the theater tonight. I hope that helps a little.

Even though Pedro probably won't remember our family, we probably won't ever forget the sweet, loving little guy. He made a big impact on our family.

A new addition

Never thought I'd see the day that my husband brought home a puppy.

Especially not a "little dog" like this guy.

But he did!

Welcome to the family, Pedro! :-)