New Addition

In his book, Marley & Me, John Grogan writes, "Animal lovers are a special breed of human, generous of spirit, full of empathy, prone to sentimentality, and with hearts as big as a cloudless sky." I think that sums me up fairly well. Anyone who knows me is aware of how much I love animals, and how I'm only ever really happy when I'm living with at least one. It should come as no surprise, then, that I've somehow managed to convince Andy that two cats isn't enough. I've wanted a dog for a long time, and now we have the means and the circumstances to give one a good home. Well, let's be honest here, it actually didn't take a whole lot of convincing to get Andy in on the scheme.

Committed as we are to the belief that there are too many good animals in need of a good home, we decided immediately that we were only going to consider adopting from a rescue or a shelter. With those parameters in place, we did a great deal of reading up on different breeds, and soon zeroed in on our chosen type: the retired racing greyhound. Though it may come a surprise to most, greyhounds are sweet, gentle, affectionate, quiet, even-tempered, and often lazy (!) dogs. Most consider their running days over by the time they cross our doorsteps, and are content to doze the day away with a walk or two each day. Of course, we were worried about the cats, but most greyhounds (about 80% estimated) are perfectly fine to live with cats given the proper introductions and adjustment period. We read a great deal on these dogs, visited with many, and arrived at our final choice just this evening.

Our new dog is currently named Harry (We haven't pinned down his permanent name yet. Suggestions are most welcome!). He is being fostered with a cat (very happily, as we were thrilled to observe), he heels like a gentleman on a leash, he's already learned basic commands, and he's as lovable and gentle as can be. We're picking him up from his foster home on Friday, and we'll have more pictures and news after the weekend. For now, we couldn't be more thrilled.

This is the only picture of Harry we have (from the adoption group's website). He is a handsome boy.

Now... someone just has to tell the cats. *gulp*