Pack

So. Apparently today is National Dog Day. How apropos this post is as I intended to write it even before I found out about today. Anywho, on with the post.

So you may remember that we got Mickey and Minnie last summer, shortly after returning from our trip to Disney World.  Rex was lonely after we'd had to say goodbye to Lucy and he needed a friend. Amy and I had always been talking about getting smaller dogs so once she saw the two of them online, it was a done deal.  We also literally thought we were done. 3 dogs. That's enough. Right?

Well, fast forward back to this past summer and our apparent inability to take it easy and go a summer without some kind of fun new adventure to create. Pair that with the fact that the SPCA was overcrowded and having a $5 dog sale and we stood no chance. $5!!  That's a huge discount to their normal adoption fee. So we headed to the SPCA to just look. Maybe we'd find a new furry family member, maybe we wouldn't. 

We knew what we were looking for. A female. 2-3 years old (so she'd be house trained). No larger than Rex. Not too many strict criteria. Surely we'd find something. If it was meant to be. Well, apparently it was because we found her. She was so quiet in comparison to all of the barking ruckus in the SPCA. She immediately took to Jackson, animals typically do. Truth be told, he basically picked her out. So we had them take her out and bring her to a private too, to meet. She was super timid. We were nervous but she was so sweet. We decided yes!  I mean $5!

So as we are finalizing her paperwork we find out that she had just been spayed the day before (hence the timidity). She'd only been at the SPCA for 2 days and that day was the first day she'd been available for adoption. It was destiny. Just as the case was with Mickey and Minnie.  So we knew we'd made the right decision.

We thought and thought about a name. Mickey and Minnie go together so we decided to find something that would pair well with Rex. Something meaning royalty. He was after all named after the Kind of Carnival (Mardi Gras!). No one liked Regina. We call Stella Princess so that was out. Queenie was a bust also. I finally suggested Duchess and everyone agreed that it fit. So there we had it. A new member to our family. Duchess. 

It was now clear that we owned a pack of dogs. 4 dogs is a pack indeed. It took her a while to warm up to the other 3, she was just so shy, but after about a week they all were getting along. By now she is fine and they all cuddle and play and run around like crazy together. It's a noisy bunch, but a happy one. 

Truth be told this was probably one of the cheapest and easiest hairbrained idea we've ever had. She wa son sale!  We still had a kennel large enough for her and she ate the same food as Rex. It was a smooth and simple decision. One that we have been pleased with. She's been a blessing and is super sweet and we love her. So, all in all, it wasn't really a truly crazy idea. Not really. Right?  So there's my post to introduce Duchess and with everyone a happy National Dog Day. 

All is well, + 1 more furry family member, in Drosche Land. 

Meet Duchess!

She's so sweet, just look at that face!

Meeting her brothers and sister for the first time!