It finally happened

Eric has wanted a dog ever since we've been married. I've had a lot of really good excuses as to why we didn't need one, but after 10 years, my excuses ran out. I was pretty safe until we moved into our house, but since then I've been slowly caving. Since I knew the day would inevitably come, I've been looking around - hoping to at least get something I could handle - rather than the big manly dog, raised from a puppy, that Eric has always dreamed of.

My sister made the match for us. Her friend, Susan, was wanting to find a new home for her dog and Cari thought we might like to have her. Not only would they give us the dog for free, but her kennel, leash, food, grooming supplies, etc. right along with her. Who can pass that up? If we love her, wonderful. If I struggle (because I would be the only one), then we find her a good home and we're not out a couple of hundred dollars. She had also been an outdoor dog, only coming in at night to sleep in her kennel. What a dream! So Wednesday I drove to Gilbert and back and Annie is now apart of our family.

The kids have loved her from the very first second. I'm not sure who adores her more - Isaac or Ashlyn. Carter really likes the idea of her. He's still warming up a bit, but tries his hardest to pet her. Even Ian gets along with her well.

Eric and I had been having territorial debates and we finally concluded that she would be allowed in the back part of our house only. When we first brought her home, she would run crazy through the entire house, with the whole family chasing her, anytime anyone would open the sliding door. So when she was inside, we kept her on a leash and I was ready to take up the territorial debates again. But by Saturday Eric had her off the leash and she knows where she can and can't go. Every once in a while she tries to test it, but its nothing like when she first got here. She doesn't bark, she doesn't dig, she chases birds, and she doesn't chew - much. She has a few other behavioral problems that we're working on, but she's making great progress. Her and Ian are quite similar. They both mess with the trash, climb on things they aren't supposed to, eat food under the table, etc. Annie is learning faster than Ian and doesn't understand why he still gets all the special privileges!

We took her for a family walk and had a great time. We found the cement hill by our house to be the perfect place to exercise her. Most of us played and watched while Isaac did all the work.

He'd run her up the hill (she was usually right with him but found something to sniff)...

Across the top...

and right back down again.

Ian thoguht it was great fun!

So that's our dog! We sure do like her!