A Lucky Dog...

About a month ago Sarah started in on us about getting a puppy for Christmas. Of course we immediately and resoundingly said "NO". We already have 3 big dogs, half-dozen cats, and half-dozen guinea pigs, another dog was NOT in our plans! Apparently the powers that be took that as a challenge on Sarah's behalf. They saw an opportunity to play a great joke....

One night last week, maybe Wednesday or Thursday, Mark mentioned that there had been a stray dog or puppy under a storage building at the place he works for a few days. I didn't think too much of it, dogs wander around a lot and we figured it would be long gone.

It wasn't.

We briefly discussed the possibility of making Sarah's Christmas wish come true but were 90% sure the dog would move on.

With temperatures expected to dip into the low twenties, the puppy didn't have much of a chance Friday night so the employees worked Thursday afternoon and all day Friday to lure her out with no luck. She would come out about a foot and then scoot back under, causing them much frustration. The boss finally brought a trap and baited it with turkey legs, something they'd fed the dog the day before. I think he was afraid she'd die under his building and they'd have to move it to get her out.

At 8pm Mark and I drove down(an hour 1-way) to check the trap. Nothing. We were able to see her back under the building so we parked across the alley and waited. Nothing. Except that Mark's boss drove up and checked the trap too. I felt much better seeing that. We could expect that someone would be around if she ended up caught. Still it was hard to drive away without that puppy knowing she'd probably be dead in the morning.

Saturday morning, still nothing.

Sunday around noon his boss called to let us know that she'd been caught if we wanted her. We were in the car less than 5 minutes later, telling the kids that Mark needed to go on a "pick-up" run to Carthage and I was going to ride with him to discuss Christmas presents. They had NO IDEA.

I think Sarah was in shock when I walked through the door with a puppy! She has been quick to let me know that she does NOT like surprises.

So, here she is. We have named her Pashmina. The vet says she's about 10 weeks old, 6.5 pounds, and probably a good bit Schnauzer.

Merry Christmas Pashmina!! We sure hope you love living with us!