I Always Give In... Dang it!

Somehow my children always have some magical power over me when it comes to animals. When we left Texas I was resolved to end the pet craze. We came with 1 cat (yes... it's true Manda the catlady said goodbye to ALL of her Bengals) and 1 dog. After years of having every imaginable pet and more this was quite a change for us. Our old dog, Walker, who will always be loved by this family... especially Sammy, time was short here. He only lasted the drive here and was never seen again after our first night in the house. That was quite an ordeal as we have had him since Sammy was crawling and he doesn't remember life without him.

Ben on the other hand has been dog shopping for the last year or so knowing that Walker's time was short. We won't say he is heartless, we'll just say that he has been taking the scout motto quite seriously and wanted to "Be Prepared". Ben had decided that the perfect dog for him would be some kind of hound... perhaps even a Beagle. His Dad and I said "No Way, they howl and bark too much". Ben went on to claim that he was moving up North and needed a good hunting dog (gosh, does he know how to push the right buttons with his Dad or what?). Then he would say to his mom "I had to leave everything I love behind, don't you think a hunting dog is the perfect solution for my sadness?", or something along those manipulating lines!

Here, enters Louie into our lives.... a poor Beagle that is five years old, trained (haha), sweet and FREE. His owner was moving and needed a new home for him since they couldn't take him along. Rick called and asked what I thought... did I mention that it was the day before Ben's birthday and the only thing that Ben asked for this year was a dog?

The newest addition to our family is our rabbit chasing, cat crazed dog. He is very, very sweet. He has fit perfectly into our family. Other than his sneaking into the car whenever the car door is open he has been a complete pleasure. He LOVES car rides and will do anything to go with us. Yesterday I was driving down the road with the kids and looked in my rear view mirror to see him sitting proudly in the back seat. The little stinker is such a cast-a-way! Last week Laura found him in the back of the trooper as she was leaving the house, kicked him out and then found out he jumped out of the trooper and ran straight for the trailer that she was pulling and jumped in.

Louie is just as sweet as could be. He has the same calm temperament that Walker had without all the out of control hair and stinking issues. Although, he does have quite the talent for rolling around in the mud and swimming in the creek as soon as we bathe him. I am grateful for the love that family pets can bring, but disappointed with my weakness of giving in to the constant zoo that we seem to collect. I always give in... Dang it!