You guys are good!

Wow, you guys are good! Or I'm very bad at posting a confusing picture. =) Either way, you're talented!

It is a puppy's nose.

We have a wonderful, long suffering, beautiful mutt (toy rat terrier and english setter) named Ally. I've had her since my 19th birthday (which means we just celebrated 8 years together!), and she has very gracefully put up with four children knocking her right out of the spotlight. She tolerates them, but really loves Seth. The kids have recently become enamored with the idea of her having a friend.

I said no. No way. No how. Puppies are like babies. No!

Then, we went to Indiana for our vacation, where we were immersed in family...and two different parts of our families recently (within the past year) rescued dogs. One Aunt's family rescued a Golden mix named Napoleon, and one Aunt's family rescued a Shih Tzu. They were both adorable and that urge...you know, the  one where suddenly puppy breath doesn't seem so bad? It started to hit me. Then my friend, Jeremy got a new puppy while we were in Indiana. I told him it was going to be the death of me. Ava spent hours rolling around on the floor with his puppy, laughing and shrieking, then got up and very matter of factly told me that when we got back to Florida, we were going to the Pet store right away.

I said no to the pet store idea, right away. I don't like pet store's puppy practices, although I do feel very badly for the pet store's actual puppies. So when we got home, we started perusing the shelters in our area. We came up empty...no dog felt like ours. I was starting to think we should shelve the discussion, even though it would cause Ava to literally pass out from lack of oxygen from the fit she would throw.

Then, we saw him.

He was found abandoned in a bush at three weeks of age and nursed back to health by the staff at the rescue. He is a lab/boxer mix and, in my opinion, completely adorable. He doesn't have a name yet, and I don't know if he ever will, considering all the crazy suggestions the kids are throwing about. But, crazy as it may be, my heart went out to him, and, as Ava said "This is him! This is the right dog to add to our family!" So, here we go!