The Day We Brought Her Home

It has been in the plans.  An idea to look into once we were in the house.  We talked a bit more here and there about it and the next thing I know it was a warm Friday afternoon in October and there was a stranger in my back seat.  She had four furry legs and she would let out a bark every now and then as she tried to climb in the front seat with me.  5 miles down the highway I had to pull over and tie her to the back seat for the safety of both of us.

I kept glancing in my rear view mirror wondering what the hell I had just done.  The husband had been out of town all week and suddenly there was a 13 week old black lab puppy licking my very clean windows.  I had grown up with these dogs but never in the house and they always went in the back of the truck.  They weren’t meant for indoors or truck seats.  Apparently this one was.

I’ve always wanted a dog and with winter settling in I argued with the Husband that the sooner the better.  Who wants to potty train a puppy in the dead of Winter?  Honestly, the house has been too quiet and he has been out-of-town a lot. My determination got me exactly what I wanted and suddenly she was here to stay.

Her name is Fenway.  That isn’t even a made up blog name, nope, that is the real thing.  Over two weeks into her being with us and she is pretty much potty trained.  The Husband thought I would learn a lot from her, things such as patience, the ability to let go of my OCD a bit, the chance to slow down my pace in life a bit and breathe.  Which I have to say she has in some ways.  When I come home from work I’m not barreling into the next project consuming my brain.  Instead we are walking through the fall chill sniffing up whatever bugs are left.  It has made me let go a bit on the OCD side because I can’t mop the floor every time she gets a drink of water.  It just isn’t realistic.  Who knew?

Biggest bonus, she brings some life to the house when the Husband is working long hours.   I can yell at the Red Sox game and she can bark.  Downside, she can crop dust someone with the best of them.  On Saturday mornings we pile on the floor together and catch up on the DVR.  Since she isn’t allowed on the furniture we tend to never use it any longer.

I still question my sanity some days when she is barking relentlessly at me when I’m in the shower.  Or when she insists upon jumping directly into the dishwasher every time it is open.  It is a good thing she is cute.  I suppose we will keep her.