Hello, Molly

Meet Molly. Our new addition.

Molly is six weeks old. Her mother is a registered German Shepherd, her father a registered Black Labrador Retriever, Molly one of three girls in a litter of five.

Now she's part of our family.

Here's how Molly came to be with us: First, you have to know that Paul has seven siblings (three brothers and four sisters). Have I ever mentioned that? Well, anyhow, I think it's telling that of those eight siblings (counting Paul) only one is without a dog. One. (And she used to have one a while ago). Of course, his parents have one too (two until just a couple of years ago). I think I can easily say that Paul's family is a dog-loving family.

Now in this dog-loving family, Paul's sister-in-law Shellie is probably the dog-loving-est of all. In fact, she's it's safe to say she loves all kinds of animals. Shellie and Joe have two very large Labrador Retrievers (until recently they had another, older, pound dog) and two cats.

Something you may or may not also know is that we have lunch nearly every Sunday with Paul's family. Most of them at least. And pretty much every Sunday there are a number of dogs running around (including our Paco).

This Sunday was no different except that Joe and Shellie brought with them a new puppy. A puppy in need of a home. You see, Shellie's co-worker had brought several of them to the office at 4pm Friday, hoping to adopt them all out. Shellie, being Shellie, took one on consignment, meaning if she didn't find a home for it, she was bringing it back on Monday.

Shellie knew what she was doing bringing it to Sunday lunch. The minute I set eyes on that pup, I wanted her, and as soon as Paul heard she was being given away and saw my face, he knew she would be coming home with us.

And she did.

 

She's a sweet little gal. Very laid-back and calm. Of course, she is a puppy so she's nippy and she gets excited and chases and jumps on the girls, but that's because they get excited and squeal and run around. Barrett has learned the word "No" because of Molly, and runs away from the dog, going "No, no, no, no, no." She will then run back and see what the puppy is doing. She wants to be near Molly at all times, but is slightly afraid of her. I think they'll soon be good buddies.

I think Molly will be easily trained. She woke up a couple of times last night and went out once, then again early this morning, but for the most part she did well in her crate (which, of course, is in our room). When she whimpered and cried, we could tell her to Hush up or Be Quiet and she would give a last big sigh or two and go back to sleep. Luckily Barrett gave us a break last night and slept all night in her own bed. Hoo-ah!

Beth kindly asked about Paco. Well, Paco is my boy and I do love Paco like I've never loved another animal. Paco sleeps in the bed with us, goes places with us, lives the life of a prince. He is also nearing 12 years old. Now, he is in great shape and, being a Jack Russell terrier mix, he's likely to be long-lived. But he is a bit set in his ways and has already been imposed upon with two little girls. So it's a bit of an insult to him to bring in a young whippersnapper puppy gal to make his life even harder.

And he is not exactly happy about it. Mostly at first he was indifferent. But he didn't sleep in the bed with me last night--he slept in the living room--and, although Molly was in a crate and not the bed, I think it was a protest. I gave him some extra moments of loving several times throughout the day today, but he's still been a bit mopey. I think he's a little depressed about the whole thing.

Now Paco hasn't always been the only dog. When he was about a year old, a month before we were married, Paul & I got a second puppy, Lucy. Paco and Lucy didn't love each other at first either, but eventually they became friends. When Lucy died at only five years old, Paco mourned right along with me.

So, I will let them work out the pecking order and hope that they can build a peaceful coexistence, if not become friends.

And I will set to the challenge of training a new pup during Paul's busiest semester yet  and while I'm trying to manage a growing-up-too-fast four year-old and a challenging toddler. And a part-time job. And a building project. Oh and I will pray for the patience and lovingkindness of my mother while she babysits yet another "child" on my working days.

No, I won't even think about all that...and just enjoy my new baby girl.

Isn't she cute?