The plot thickens here as to who will be the next canine member of our family. I have had a rough day today, thinking a lot about Lexie. I have spent a great deal of time researching available Rotties through Petfinder.com. I am committed to getting a shelter dog... it fits in with my whole philosophy of taking in kids and critters who need homes. My husband says I have a compulsion to add a dependent every year, so he “scratches my itch” with animals who require commitments of a decade or two instead of forever. He doesn’t fool me though… he loves our kids and critters too.


Two dogs stuck out in my research. Both were available on Petfinder.com. Check out Sally and Ann.



I had no intention of getting a puppy—I was looking for an adult dog. (Aren’t you proud of me, Cindy Bodie?) But when I saw the picture of Sally… well, heck, have you ever seen a cuter puppy? She looks like a Norman Rockwell painting! And Ann… what a face! Her face reminds me of Lexie’s face. And Sally would be a mix… not complete Rottie. But she is SO cute!


So I have waffled one way and then the other. I look at pictures of grown Rotties and it just makes me ache for Lexie. I’m ready to go grab Ann. I read about the neat traits of Greater Swiss Mountain dogs and think a Rott/Swissy mix would be incredible. I think about ALL the work required to raise a puppy… especially a pup from a breed that is very slow to mature and has a prolonged puppyhood.


My husband arranged to take the day off of work tomorrow and we planned a road trip to see Sally… about an hour away. The lady is meeting us at the halfway point, and we will meet at 9:30 AM. She is getting tons of calls on Sally and her brother, and can't hold Sally for us indefinitely.


Yesterday I called the shelter that has Ann, and I learn someone looked at her yesterday and planned to return today. If we got Sally, I wanted to be sure Ann had a home. I called today…The people who looked at her yesterday didn’t return today. The shelter featured Ann in their pet of the week radio spot that ran today… but THEN… She started coughing. She has kennel cough. The kennel director told me they have no vet on staff, and no isolation facilities. Animals that start coughing are euthanized. WHAT? For kennel cough?


So here’s the deal… we will go see Sally first thing in the morning. My new neighbor, who works at a local shelter, will drive separately and help us evaluate the pup. If we MUST have this pup, Melissa will bring her back, and my husband and I will head to Joplin, a three hour drive from the pup’s location. Ann is on hold for me until 3 PM. We WILL bring Ann back, and medicate her and stash her in my barn or my other neighbor’s barn or maybe the shelter where Melissa works where they will treat her kennel cough. And then… what next? Do I find her a placement myself? Send her to a Rottie Rescue? Talk my dad into letting my mom keep her? Keep her ourselves? My husband said, “Five dogs are a little much.” I have to agree! Although really it would be 3 and a half and one and a half. Two BC’s plus Ann would be three… my old dog Chance only wakes up to walk once a day and eat once a day, so she’s a half, and the pup would be crated or monitored very closely, so she counts for one and a half in terms of work, but won’t be walking or doing big dog things for awhile.


So what do YOU think we should do? If Cindy can parent 39 kids, can I parent 5 dogs? Even more to the point, will my husband agree to let me parent five dogs?