Dreams Do Come True

For years, I thought of myself as a "dog person."  We always had a dog when I was growing up and I enjoy other people's well-behaved dogs.  Then a few negative dog experiences proved me wrong.  (Including having a dog raise his leg and pee down my back while I was sitting on the beach at Bear Lake.  Yes, seriously.  I couldn't make that stuff up.)  

I came to the realization that maybe I'm not a dog person.  Maybe I just want to be a dog person.  And I could have lived with that, if it weren't for two things: 1) I live with four of the biggest dog people I've ever met, and 2) I have a deep-rooted belief that all kids should have a dog.  It's like a childhood right.  

So a few months ago we started to research breeds and decided that if the perfect dog came along, we'd go for it.  But the stars really needed to align because our "dream dog" list was long.   But on Sunday, we came across a Craigslist posting that sounded too good to be true, everything we were looking for.  Long story short?

Say hello to our little friend.

Here's the rundown:

5 months old Golden Retriever (with a tiny bit of lab)

Perfect with kids

Mellow in the house, active and playful outside

Loves meeting new people, but doesn't jump

Also doesn't bark - we still haven't heard what his voice sounds like, even with all the barking dogs in our neighborhood.

House-trained - yay!

Absolutely the cutest dog I have ever seen

Currently named Tucker, with new name ideas in negotiation 

After picking him up in Bellingham, we took him to Lake Padden for a walk and to get to know each other better.

We had to have leash-holding shifts since everyone was so excited.

Finally!  The girl has a dog!

And a few non-dog pictures:

Liam and Sam were pumped to wear their Halloween shirts, but ended up getting too hot on the 2.5 mile trail.  Everyone we passed smiled at this sight:

So, yes, we are officially dog owners and couldn't be happier about it.  We haven't told Garreth, and the kids are dying to surprise him Saturday night.  Getting the dog this week while he's gone seemed a little crazy, but it actually worked out great, since we have something new to focus on instead of just missing Daddy.  

The most surprising part is how utterly and completely I've fallen in love with my new boy.  He is just an absolutely easy, sweet, and perfect dog.  

I think maybe I am a dog person after all.  

It just took meeting the right one.