Boy-Oh-Boy has it been a crazy couple of months. Amongst the regular craziness of life, Paul and I have been trying to get back to our routine after adopting our sweet puppy, Teddy Bear (Mrs. Teddy, Teddy, Teddy-Teddy-Teddy, Theodore, Theodore Diego - just to name a few).
(This is Teddy shortly after we brought him home)On a whim, one Saturday in May, Paul and I decided that after 3 months of being married we were ready to take a stab at parenthood by adopting a dog from the Humane Society. We are huge supporters of any form of animal protective services so we knew that rather than going to a pet store to find our new addition to the family we would find one at the local Humane Society.
So, off we went to find our first child. We were very impressed with the in-depth process that you have to go through to even look at the dogs they have up for adoption, it really made us feel good about who and how the Jacksonville Humane Society is running things. In addition, they're a no kill shelter - what a relief!!! Okay, back to my story...so after about an hour or so of walking up and down the halls of dogs we finally came to a cage with 2 small adorable dogs, one named Rascal and the other named Diego (soon to be know as Teddy Bear).
When we first decided to get a dog Paul and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to what size the dog should be. I wanted a really small foofoo dog and Paul wanted a larger sized man's best friend kinda dog.
My idea of the perfect pet:
Example A:
My Parents Dog Bailey (originally my dog from 1999 until 1999)
Example B:
My parents dog Riley (my dog from 2001 until 2002)
Paul's idea of the perfect pet:
Example A:
Schatz (pronounced Shut-z) which means treasure in German (The Gerrety family dog for many precious years)
Okay, so back to Teddy Bear...It didn't take long for Paul to change his tune. As soon as we walked up to that cage with Rascal and Diego something came over Paul and he just melted. It was then and there that we both knew that we would not leave the Humane Society without having adopted our little Diego.
(This is Teddy relaxing in my lap)
After being his parents for nearly 5 months I can honestly say that everything we've been through (and are still experiencing) with our precious little Teddy Bear has been well worth it but it has definitely been a lot harder than we were expecting.
It all began when we found out that Diego was a "foster to adopt" puppy. It breaks my heart to think about it now, but our precious little puppy was suffering from heart worms when we chose him to be our own. It took almost 2 months of weekly visits to the vet to get him all cleared up and ready to be fully adopted - and we officially changed his name to Theodore Diego Gerrety (Teddy Bear) on our last visit.
Over these past months Paul and I have tried to figure out all of Teddy's quarks/likes/dislikes/etc. and I must say, we're doing pretty darn good. As many of you know, you take quite a risk adopting a rescue dog because you have no idea what the little guys have been through so you don't know how long it will take them to get used to you, and the great life you are offering them.
We've come a long way though:
(This is Teddy Bear in his favorite place...his crate)
We love our sweet Teddy Bear and we couldn't have prayed for a more loving and adorable first baby!!!
Until my next post,
Suzanne G.
XOXOXO
