12.21.2011

A Merry Christmas Indeed

Our house was just a bit too quiet.  No jingling of tags on the collar.  No tip tap of little doggie nails across the hardwoods.  Fault us if you will, but we started looking at petfinder.com within a week or so of losing little Betsy.  Betsy was a rescue dog and taught us that our hearts and home were big enough for three cats and a dog.  She taught us we were great puppy parents, and we felt a big gap in our daily lives not having to care for a pup.

In walks the wonderful Ohio Fuzzy Pawz Shih Tzu Rescue group.  We put in an application with them without expressing direct interest in one of the dogs they were trying to re-home.  We knew that when the time was right, we would want a shih tzu mix again, and we also knew that as soon as the "bug" hit to get a pup it would hit hard. We wanted to be pre-approved by the group so that when the time came, all we had to do was pick who we wanted.

We filled out the application, provided references, and we scheduled a home visit for Saturday of this past weekend.  These ladies knew what they were doing, as not only did we get to meet several wonderful women who work with the rescue, we also got to meet Ruby and Garnet.  Ruby and Garnet were 16 week old pups from a litter of three.  The mother, Precious, was rescued from a home near Cleveland due to an owner with failing health unable to take care of the dog.  Turns out the dog was actually very pregnant.  The group took her not expecting mom or pups to make it through.

Thanks to the help of wonderful volunteers, the mom made it through birth, and all three girl puppies survived and thrived.  As it turns out, the mom was adopted near here, and the foster mom opted to keep one of the puppies.  And then there were two - Ruby and Garnet.  What happens next is not surprising.  When presented with two puppies, each weighing five pounds a piece, both having the sweetest and kindest dispositions, who also appear to be connected at the hip to one another - we fell in love.  With both.

We hadn't been prepared to adopt yet, but as soon as we saw those girls we knew that indeed we were.  And we couldn't separate them.  Therefore, we are now the parents to two beautiful girls.  We changed Garnet's name - she is now Katy.  Meet Precious, Ruby, Katy and Diamond.  All have been adopted and live within 20 miles of each other - thanks to the wonderful work of these volunteers.  We love our two girls, and they are adapting to the home well.  I am sure there will be plenty of pics to be shared in the coming weeks.  A Merry Christmas indeed :-)


Precious is the Mom - 
The puppies are Diamond, Ruby and Garnet (now Katy)

Me and our two girls on adoption day :-)

5 comments:

Matthew Smith said...

That's so cool! We got Maglee from a rescue and had to go through the whole process. Congratulations on 2 new pups! They're beautiful!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I am happy for the both of you, they are so adorable

Tough Chik said...

I am so excited for you! What a great Christmas gift. They are so cute!

Mrs. B said...

Coming from a woman who now has a dog and five cats, all rescue, I applaud you!

After losing Nigel and Clyde, I didn't think I'd ever want any other cats. Similar to your experience, we ended up with siblings Pete and Lily.
Nine months later we were asked to foster kittens, and, well, ended up with Ares, Athena and Apollo.

Suffice it to say, I do believe the best way to honor the memory of a beloved pet is to rescue another one (or two, or three, or four...)

Congrats!

Christi said...

What a great day indeed! They are beautiful!