Shedding Fur, Muddy Paws, and Puppy Kisses…Oh My!
Just FYI, this page may contain affiliate links. Meaning, if you shop through my links, I may make a small commission at no added cost to you. Please know that if you do shop through any of my links, I am extremely grateful as it supports the blog (and buys dog treats for Jackie, Lola, and Lady). Six weeks after saying good bye to my big, stubborn baby we’re still getting used to life without her. Ava left a big hole in my heart that won’t ever really heal. But she also left a pretty big hole in our home. Without her, our house was strangely, eerily, awfully quiet. There was no one to tumble around in the floor with Lady. There was no one to growl and bark if anyone so much as walked past our house. There was no one to remind us it was dinner time and feed me right now! There was no one barking incessantly when I opened the door, begging me to please, please let her out so she could attack me with hugs. Basically, it was just too dang peaceful around here. Well…we certainly fixed that. This is Lola (and don’t ask Scott if she’s a showgirl, he may snap). A few weeks after the worst Christmas Eve ever, we started to look for another dog. Bringing a new puppy home wouldn’t bring our baby back, but we had the space, time, and love to give another dog a good home. And I felt that doing so was the best way to honor the memory my crazy rescue mutt. We came very close to adopting a very sweet puppy from a local rescue group. She was sweet, reportedly good with other dogs, and okay around kids. On paper, she checked every box. But after starting the adoption process (and hitting a few snags as we acquired all the necessary paperwork), something didn’t feel right. I started to second-guess our decision. Maybe this wasn’t the dog for us. At first, I ignored it, chalking it up to the wait for the adoption to go through. But as days went by I realized my heart just wasn’t in it. My heart kept thinking back to the day over four years ago when I met Ava and felt that instantaneous pull that told me, “This is my dog.” I searched around a little, checking all the shelters to see if any dog would give me that same feeling. It didn’t happen…not until I decided to pull up Craigslist just to look (I previously refused to look at puppy ads online). There she was. In an ad that had been online less than 10 minutes was a picture of an adorable ball of fluff. Someone had originally received her as a Christmas present but couldn’t keep her. And I finally felt that little pull on my heart. The next day we brought her home (and I’m very happy to report that the puppy we almost adopted did find her fur-ever home too.) Lola isn’t Ava…and yet she’s shown a similarity in characteristics that remind me of my sweet girl. Like the way she chatters her teeth when she’s really excited about food. Or her tendency to run into things and tumble over. Or the way she army crawls her way onto the couch instead of jumping. Or the way she loves me and Scott both, but she’s definitely a mama’s girl. In a way, I feel like she’s continuing Ava’s legacy and keep her memory alive. And maybe, just maybe, finding her wasn’t a happy accident. Maybe she found me, the way Ava did all those years ago, because she knew I needed her. Because that’s the best thing about dogs…even when you don’t know it, you need them just as much as they need you.
