Earlier this week we had to have our dog Casey put to sleep. She had spinal degeneration and had been sick for awhile. After visiting the vet back in December, we doubted she'd last much past the end of January. We were lucky to have an extra couple months. We adopted her from the dog pound when she was 4. Her previous family didn't have time for her any more so they got rid of her. We were lucky enough to find her. We had her for 11 years. She was a good, loyal dog, and we loved her. We had been preparing the kids to say goodbye to her as we watched her deteriorate over the last couple months, but it was still difficult, especially for me. What made it easier for the kids, though, was the promise of a puppy.
Knowing Casey's days were numbered, I started doing research on choosing the perfect puppy a couple months ago. I got books out of the library and made trips to the pet store to price out the necessary supplies. As crazy as it sounds, I also prayed that God would help us find the right puppy for our family at the right time. Thankfully God cares about the seemingly minor details of our lives, too: We found Clara the day after we said goodbye to Casey.
We decided several weeks ago that our new puppy's name would be Copper, like the puppy in The Fox & the Hound, but once we got her, Danielle was very opposed to giving her a non-girly name. She really wanted to name her Rose, but Tyler objected. Since we had just been at Disney, I threw out some other Disney names including that cow character Clarabelle. Both kids loved the name Clara and agreed to make that her first name. (Her full name is Clara Copper Rose.)
She's a very smart 6 week old golden retriever. She seeks out her crate for naps and sleeps in it all night long. She already knows what "go potty" means and does it outside when we tell her. I'm sure if we didn't watch for her signals and get her outside in time, she would still go on my carpets, but she didn't have an accident in the house at all today! It will be several weeks before she can be fully house broken because her muscles aren't developed enough to hold it very long, but we're off to a good start. And she already shows some interest in retrieving. The kids are a little wary of her needle sharp puppy teeth, but they think she's adorable and wish she wouldn't sleep so much.
2 comments:
Clara Copper Rose sounds like a great character name. I'll have to file that one away. She is soooo cute!
Such a cute cute puppy! She looks very sweet too :)
Post a Comment