9

For as long as I can remember, Jaida has always wanted a dog. When she was little, she would ask and ask, and the answer was always no. So sometimes she just pretended to be a dog.

Jaida as "Max" the dog

When she got a little older, "no" wasn't enough. She wanted to know why. And when.

So, I told her she could have a dog when she was 8-years-old. That seemed so far off. And I thought by then I'd be ready.

I wasn't.

When she was 9, I was pregnant with Maya. The thought of having a new dog and a new baby at the same time didn't sound like such a good idea. And when Maya was 1, and Jaida was 11, I was pregnant with Noah.....and Ryan was deployed. Nope, still not the right time for a dog.

Then Ryan was injured. So we moved to San Antonio. Three girls with Daddy in the hospital.

Noah was born. And Ryan came home. Dogs were nowhere in our future.

But sometime last spring (I'm pretty sure it was when Jaida's guinea pig died) we started thinking about getting a dog. Ryan liked the idea. Jaida loved the idea. Maya and Noah loved dogs. And I was pretty sure I was ready to assume all responsibility for said creature, knowing that it was likely to be my duty most often. But not yet. We had a really busy summer planned and it wouldn't be fair to welcome a new dog into our home just to leave him repeatedly. So we just started thinking about what kind of dog we wanted and where we would get him.

After much discussion, debate, and research we came to a decision. We wanted a small dog because it would mostly be indoors. But not so small that Noah could easily crush it. We wanted a smart dog so that we could train it to be well behaved. But we wanted our dog to be energetic and fun to play with. And important to me, but not really anyone else, was having a dog that didn't shed a lot.

And we all agreed we wanted a rescue dog. We wanted to save a life and give a dog a home and a family.

Our searching led us to the Poodle Rescue of Houston. We made the drive on Labor Day weekend and found the dog for us.

At last!

He's a brown miniature poodle weighing about 16 lbs. We think he's about 4-years-old, but we don't know for sure. He's an anxious little guy, but he's doing well with his training. He's very protective, especially of the children. And he's very tolerant, especially of Noah laying on him, pulling his tail, and petting him in a less than gentle way. (We're working on Noah's training and it's taking a little longer!) His name is Huey (like the helicopter) and he's a welcome addition to our family.

And speaking of additions to our family, don't ask me why getting a dog when I was pregnant with Maya seemed ridiculous, but getting a dog when I'm pregnant now doesn't. I guess because it's my 4th baby I think I can handle anything. Ha!

Huey feels right at home.