Keep It Simple: Our New Family Member!

Well things happen for a reason. October 5^th was the one-year anniversary of Annie’s death. We still miss her and we really couldn’t think about getting a puppy (even after spending a month with two of them in August).

On Monday, October 16^th I found a lost dog on our street. I took this scared little dog to the animal shelter. When I was leaving (I wasn’t even going to go look) a white lab caught the corner of my eye in a dog run. I went over to say “hello” and she was so sweet and loved being petted. I called Kevin and told him – but I left without her.

I thought about the shelter dog all afternoon. After the kids came home from CCD I told them about the dog and they wanted to go see her. We went to the shelter and took Katie so that they could meet.

She was on her best behavior. There was no jumping on me or the kids, she just waited patiently next to you so that she could be petted. She immediately bonded with Collin - so much so that when we left to go pay for her she started barking and was upset.

We processed the paperwork – she cost a whopping $12! We brought her home where she immediately greeted the other neighbor kids with a wagging tail and stood patiently while they all hugged and petted her.

Here shelter name was Codi or Jeri but she didn’t answer to either name. The kids wanted to call her Cami but she didn’t respond to that name either. After spending one night in the house (with perfect nightime manners) we came to realize that she had once had a family of her own – and a name. We set out on Tuesday morning to try to figure out her name. We tried every name we could think of but no response. I then said the name “Kelly” to her. She immediately got up and came over to me with a happy face and wagging tail! Collin tested the name by calling her and she went right over to him! Thus she was named - Kelly McCarthy!

She is 7-8 years old weight 55 pounds (she's little like Emma). She appears to be a purebred Labrador Retriever - she reminds me of Emma in her stature and Lexi in her coloring. We know that she was a stray and then adopted by a man for about three weeks. He returned her to the shelter because she was distructive when left alone.

Kelly definitely has some separation anxiety. She follows me around the house or whoever else is home. She likes to be in a "cave setting" so she sleeps UNDER Collin's bed. That's right, under. Kelly is little enough to fit under Collin's bed. If she isn't sleeping there at night then she is sleeping in the corner of our room by Kevin.

When we have to leave her we have started to put her in the kennel since it's a nice safe place for her to be until she settles in a bit more.

Katie and Kelly seems to respect each other and have played a little ball. They've enjoyed some great mountain hikes together and Katie is definitely more active now that there is another dog in the house.

Kelly is a very good dog. It makes us sad to think that she was someone else's pet and that her first family miss her and are worried about her. She loves kids, being petted, riding in the car and just being with you - we can tell she was a very spoiled dog and now she will be again.