Welcome To The Family--Penelope Beedy
My heart has longed for this for years, and finally my dreams have come true.
Our family has grown by four paws: Penelope Beedy. My sweet, sweet puppy!
I had been wanting a dog of my own since I left for college, and that desire grew even more deep when I got married. For some foolish and unkind reason, colleges won't let you own a pet if you live in the dorms (ridiculous, I KNOW!). When I moved home, I seriously considered getting a dog of my own, but decided that work and school took up too much time. My husband, Josh, had Maisie before we got married. She is so sweet and fun loving, and loves me very much as I do her. She helped ease my longing for a puppy for a while. However it is not the same as having a puppy you knew from the beginning, who has been bonded to you, who loves you, and who you chose yourself. I wanted a puppy that I picked because they melted my heart. I wanted a puppy that I chose the name of, who I could call MINE. I've grown up having dogs but they have always "technically" belonged to someone else. My dream of being a for real dog mom, not a step-dog-mom (even though I wouldn't trade it for the world!), is finally fulfilled!
Originally, I wanted to get a lap dog (preferably a dachshund!). We went to the shelter in hopes of finding either a small breed puppy or young small breed dog. At the shelter, they had mostly larger dogs and puppies that will become larger dogs (which made sense for the demographic we live in). Because I couldn't decide about the bigger dogs, I wanted to look at kittens. They had a kitten sale going on and there was one kitten who captured my heart complete. He was, sadly but gladly, already adopted. Needless to say I cried and left the shelter undecided and disappointed. My heart hurt because I wanted all of the dogs, and I would have taken any if I wasn't trying to be smart about my adoption. Dogs (any pet or living creature for that matter) are a big responsibility and I wanted a dog that would work well in our home and with our lifestyle. We visited a different shelter the same day, but they only had one 15 year old dog who looked like he hadn't been taken care of very well (the owner dropped him off 2 minutes before we got there). He was a poodle mix, with rotten teeth and very matted fir. I felt so sorry for him, but I also knew my little dog-loving heart could not handle getting attached to a pupper to only watch him decline and pass away in a year or less. We planned to visit the humane society again over the weekend.
Before the weekend came, we searched craiglist for a small-breed puppy. Every single one we found was $500 to $900. What? I couldn't spend that much on a dog. I went to my parents later and got the number to the dog breeder my mom got her puppy (Hilda the Dachshund) from and was going to call after we went to the humane society one more time.
Saturday morning, we ran errands and then went to the shelter. The puppies were front and center, and there she was: Penelope. We looked and petted and talked to the puppies, and then we went to look at the adult dogs and the cats. As soon as I left Penelope, I could hear her crying from her little cage the whole time. We went back to her, I looked at my husband with tears rolling down my face and asked if we could get her. (I was so so so scared that she was already adopted, the disappointment would be crushing). We filled out the paper work and she was ours! Sadly, she had to stay at the shelter for almost a week to get spayed. The day she came home was the best day ever!
Penelope is between 2 and 4 months old. I am leaning more towards three months. She is mostly heeler mix! She was found on the side of the road near where I lived and taken to the humane society the day before we went to look again. It was truly meant to be. She makes me heart so happy and has been such a good puppy. She hasn't chewed up any shoes or wires, has only had a few inside accidents, plays with our other dog, Maisie, wonderfully. She is learning to fetch and wakes me up in the middle of the night to go outside. Once she goes outside, she sits next to our bed and cries until I put her in bed with us (Even though she has her own large and comfy bed, she prefers to snuggle with mommy and daddy!). She is a rough and tumble puppy who is also so sweet. She gets so excited when we come home it melts my heart.
I am not at all against spending money on a pure bred dog (if it is reasonable!) because I know that a lot of times you just want that type of dog. However, I am so glad that Maisie and Penelope were both adopted from a shelter and are receiving the best love we can give to them! Our next dog will most likely be a pure(er) bred dog that we buy from a breeder, but for now I am proud to be a rescuer.
Welcome to the family, Penny, I am so ready for all the love and adventures with your dotted self!
P.S. For some odd reason I feel that she is not complete without a middle name. I haven't found one that fits her perfectly, so feel free to leave a comment below with your suggestion!
