It was time to 'get real' --

I love that phrase:  "Get real... get a dog."  It's from one of my favorite books, "The Mountaintop School for Dogs," by Ellen Cooney.

My husband and I got real today..... we adopted a Border Collie/Great Pyrenees puppy.... gorgeous honey- and white-colored five-month-old female with the sweetest disposition and the most gentle eyes.... I named her Savannah, after one of my most favorite cities in the US.  (I tried to think of a name from somewhere in England, but nothing seemed to 'fit' her as well as Savannah.)

Our dog Gracie passed away over five years ago, and we've been without a dog ever since.... just couldn't get ourselves to go puppy-shopping, and we kept coming up with reasons why we shouldn't get another dog.  This week, we couldn't come up with any more reasons.  It was time, it was just time to be a real family again.  And even though we have one inside cat and two outside cats, nothing quite makes a family than having a dog in your home. (Unless one has children, of course, which we don't.... and our pets have always been our four-legged furry kids.)

So we started looking for dogs and puppies on the Internet.... I found a two-yr-old Great Pyrenees.... my husband found some Border Collie mixes.... we settled on this particular Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix because the puppy's pictures on the Internet were very cute, the owner said her daughter just didn't have time to take care of the dogs (there was also a male, along with the female), and the owner was willing to meet with us today so we could see the dog.  (It seems funny to me that as I was looking for puppies and dogs on the Internet, I didn't look at the fluffy little lap-dogs.... I was looking at the larger breeds.  Out here in the hills, I guess my old dream of having a little fluff-ball-puppy to dress up isn't part of this reality anymore.)

Off we went..... to a McDonald's in Hempstead.... and right there in the Big Mac parking lot, we met this beautiful dog waiting in the back of the lady's truck. Waiting, and very scared.... probably the dog's first very long ride........ she had been used to being an outside dog, with the run of a very nice and well-kept kennel, along with her brother.  So there we were, trying to make friends with this very nervous puppy who clearly wanted to say hello but didn't exactly know what to do.

We took our time... my husband kept talking to the dog... I kept talking to the woman and her daughter, asking questions about the dog's food and daily habits.... and then I looked at my husband and he smiled and nodded his head, silently telling me that we had found a great dog.

I had brought along the leash we always used for Gracie, plus one of Gracie's old blankets.... we paid for the puppy, got her into our car (after hugging the lady and her daughter and promising to give the dog a very good home).... and I sat in the back seat with the dog so she wouldn't be scared.  It took her about two minutes to settle down onto that blanket... she put her head on my lap, her two front paws on my hand, and she went into a sound sleep and only opened her eyes if the car went over a bump.

Instead of going directly home, we stopped at the store and my husband went in and spent nearly $80.00 on food, biscuits, toys, treats, water and food dishes, grooming supplies, and a container of Blue Bell ice cream to celebrate the newest member of our little family.

All the way home, we had been tossing names back and forth.... the name that sounded the best and seemed to 'fit' best for this beautiful little (soon to be big) dog was Savannah.... one of my favorite places on the planet.  We've been to Savannah twice... it was a gentle and old-fashioned city, filled with charm and goodness, southern hospitality and friendly people who were always smiling.  I think of Savannah as a city filled with endless hope and happy dreams.... and when I remember our two trips to that beautiful city, I just have to smile and feel blessed to have gone there.

As I type, Savannah is in Gracie's old puppy-crate, which she may out-grow before she gets out of the puppy stage.  Which is fine... we'll just buy her a larger crate if she needs one, or she may be able to 'graduate' to a plush and soft doggie-bed.  Savannah slept for most of the afternoon, curled up on Gracie's old blanket, which I used to make the bottom of the crate nice and soft and cozy for her.

This beautiful honey and white puppy has no blessed idea of just how spoiled and loved she will be in the years to come. But... the love she will give to us will be beyond measure.