ABE

The other day I thought I had a grand idea for a free winter activity. -->

I thought it would be fun to take June to a shelter to pet the cats and stuff since there isn’t much to do outside these days. And I was right! It was so exciting for her. The cats were so starved for attention that they would nuzzle her hand as she pet them and rub up against her. She was in heaven! There were also two bunnies we got to hold, a lizard to look at, gerbils, a fish tank and of course, the dogs.

Oh the dogs. 

June- watching all those crazy dogs

 All of them were barking and freaking out. Poor things. Except one. A cute chocolate lab was just sitting there calming amid all the chaos. I took a picture and sent it to Buck, as a joke. Because his dream dog is a chocolate lab, young, saved from a shelter. 

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So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that two days later we went back and got him. But yet, I have no idea how this really happened. It’s all a blur. 

It's kind of a crazy thing to do. I mean, I've never had a dog so even though he is "Buck's dog" I am the one home with him all day.  And he was a stray so who even knows his background. I mean, right? We're crazy!

 But God has smiled down on us.

Yesterday was my first day with him. I was kind of going nuts. And then this new friend I have from our church found out that I got a dog and came over to help. Turns out she used to train dogs as a job and had trained like 20 of them. So she comes over and changes our lives! It was a night and day difference. She helped me SO MUCH. Such an answer to a prayer.

Then a couple hours later another new friend came over and turns out her and her former husband used to raise and train labs. WHAT THE HECK?! So she had all this great advice too, and advice for my poor traumatized-hidding-under-the-bed cat. AMAZING!

And both of these girls were shocked at what a good dog he is! They could not stop saying that. Their surprise was a blessing to me as well, it felt like it was God's way of saying "It's okay that you got a dog. He will be a good member of your family." It almost feels like it was meant to be, you know?

Anyway, that's the short version to that story. My friend came over again this morning and we had round two of training. And by that I mean training ME. haha that's what it feels like since I have so much to learn! It's been fun!

So, let's review.

We took this:

And did this:

Meet *Abe. Our spontaneous new family member!

* Buck wanted to name a son Abraham. I wasn't a fan... So he said, fine, one day when we have a chocolate lab dog I am naming him ABE. So there wasn't any question what this dog wold be named, since we named him a couple years ago. ;)