Last weekend, we traveled an hour away from home to find our new fur child. This is quite a big deal for our family (or any family for that matter). My kids weren’t born when we got Cali as a puppy, so that was their one request: that we choose a puppy. And the only other criteria we had were: 1) we would pick a girl; and 2) it would not be a golden retriever. As much as I adore goldens, I think a change in breed will do us good, and no golden will ever quite measure up to our beloved Cali, so let’s not set the dog up for failure 🙂
Clay and I narrowed the possibilities down and determined that we wanted a Border Collie. Yes, energetic, incredibly smart, and did I mention energetic? Very drive-y dogs, for sure. But no need to fear that the dog will need to be on an agility course all day as we have learned from this process. But she will need lots of exercise (which won’t be a bad thing for any of us!) So we surprised the kids by driving to the puppy home last Saturday. As soon as they realized where we were, their eyes lit up. They squealed. We piled out of the car and descended on the kennel, on the search for our new forever friend.
After lots of questions, meeting the mommy dogs, and a family powwow, we decided on a 3 week old merle. She is still “no name” because we haven’t come to a consensus on the name and frankly we want to see her personality a bit more before we name her. But here she is: Puppy Boswell….
The past 4 months have been hard. I was in a sadness fog that has been harder than I imagined. Losing Cali and dealing with her absence in our home has been a struggle. But I have tried to come out on the other side and realize that while we cannot ever replace Cali, we need that love back in our home. I need it in order to be more me again. It’s time…we are ready (but ask me that again in a few weeks during potty training). This little one has no idea the love that is waiting for her here. But she will know very soon.