It's Lulu!
Cinco de Mayo was a special day for our family and it had nothing to do with the country south of the border.
We decided to take a break from having a dog in our lives after we lost our dear Gracie to lymphoma back in January. It was a long winter to begin with. One without our old friend made it infinitely worse.
But as spring approached, we felt the time was right to start looking for a new member of our family.
We decided to search for a blue heeler. I've always been fond of heelers and Beth grew up with one as a kid; my daughter was excited about the prospect of having a new dog and decided to call it "Lulu" if it was a girl.
But finding a blue heeler wasn't easy in this neck o' the woods.
We had a couple of leads that ran cold. Then my sister-in-law, Sara, who lives in North Dakota, located a farmer with blue heelers for sale. She contacted the seller and put the whole arrangement together. A million thanks to her!
So in the early morning hours of May 5th, I made the journey to Towner, North Dakota. Not quite Canada, but you can smell the maple syrup from there.
I met the seller at what I presume was the only gas station in town (Cenex). I arrived early (which is my habit), bought a cheap cup of coffee and waited - hoping everything would work out.
After all, meeting a complete stranger in an unfamiliar location hundreds of miles away from home doesn't always have a 100% success rate.
But finally, at about 10:45 AM a vehicle slowly approached me and I was relieved to hear the driver ask, "Are you looking for a puppy?"
There I got my first glimpse of Lulu. Let's just say she was worth the drive and worth the wait.
The best part is this was a complete surprise for our kids. They had no idea we were getting a puppy and to say they were excited would be to say Albert Einstein was smart.
So we've been adjusting to life with a fur baby. It's been a long time since we've had one in our house (since 2001), and it's certainly a lifestyle change, but everyone is adapting quite quickly and comfortably.
She was intended to be a working dog and spent the first eight weeks of her life on a cattle farm. She could be living in a barn right now. But I guess you could say she pretty much won the heeler lottery.
Her life is going to be pretty ruff.
She had her first visit to the vet today and Lakeland Veterinary Hospital put her picture on their Facebook page:
And it's very possible we will be adding another pooch to our lives soon. We've completed our application and interview process with Minnesota Boxer Rescue and they are ready to match us with a boxer. It may take some time, but more on that in the near future, I'm sure!
We decided to take a break from having a dog in our lives after we lost our dear Gracie to lymphoma back in January. It was a long winter to begin with. One without our old friend made it infinitely worse.
But as spring approached, we felt the time was right to start looking for a new member of our family.
We decided to search for a blue heeler. I've always been fond of heelers and Beth grew up with one as a kid; my daughter was excited about the prospect of having a new dog and decided to call it "Lulu" if it was a girl.
But finding a blue heeler wasn't easy in this neck o' the woods.
We had a couple of leads that ran cold. Then my sister-in-law, Sara, who lives in North Dakota, located a farmer with blue heelers for sale. She contacted the seller and put the whole arrangement together. A million thanks to her!
So in the early morning hours of May 5th, I made the journey to Towner, North Dakota. Not quite Canada, but you can smell the maple syrup from there.
 |
| Towner, ND. Population 533. |
I met the seller at what I presume was the only gas station in town (Cenex). I arrived early (which is my habit), bought a cheap cup of coffee and waited - hoping everything would work out.
After all, meeting a complete stranger in an unfamiliar location hundreds of miles away from home doesn't always have a 100% success rate.
But finally, at about 10:45 AM a vehicle slowly approached me and I was relieved to hear the driver ask, "Are you looking for a puppy?"
There I got my first glimpse of Lulu. Let's just say she was worth the drive and worth the wait.
The best part is this was a complete surprise for our kids. They had no idea we were getting a puppy and to say they were excited would be to say Albert Einstein was smart.
So we've been adjusting to life with a fur baby. It's been a long time since we've had one in our house (since 2001), and it's certainly a lifestyle change, but everyone is adapting quite quickly and comfortably.
 |
| Lulu quickly claimed the kitchen rug as her own. My 3 year-old son can't pronounce her name. He calls her "Woo-Hoo." But she knows what he means. |
She was intended to be a working dog and spent the first eight weeks of her life on a cattle farm. She could be living in a barn right now. But I guess you could say she pretty much won the heeler lottery.
Her life is going to be pretty ruff.
 |
| Happiness is being passed out cold on a pile of dirty clothes. |
She had her first visit to the vet today and Lakeland Veterinary Hospital put her picture on their Facebook page:
 |
| It's hard not to love a face like that. |
And it's very possible we will be adding another pooch to our lives soon. We've completed our application and interview process with Minnesota Boxer Rescue and they are ready to match us with a boxer. It may take some time, but more on that in the near future, I'm sure!
