Okay, so what boy hasn’t asked for a dog at some point in his life. BUT, how many of those boys have patiently asked for a dog for over a year AND carefully thought out all the needs and demands that new dog would hold? Here’s a good one…how many of those boys actually thought carefully through all this at the age of 5?!! Devon is special, that’s for sure! He’s careful not to hug me too hard at night because he knows that “girls can break”. He endures at least 50 hugs and kisses from his baby sister each day because he knows it will make her happy. He prays for his big brother while he’s at school that “he will learn to not be so mean” and he pumps out 100 push-ups in a 10 min. time frame (pushing well past his body’s limitations) at the fire hall in front of all the guys because he knows it will make his daddy proud…just to name a few specialties… So how does a parent say “no” to a child like that!
So now you know how we came to the conclusion that our boy needed a dog for his birthday…but now for the REST of the story!
We concluded that our best option was to find a dog at the pound since the $50 fee would cover the spay/neuter, one set of shots, and de-worming if needed. After two trips to the pound, I was getting discouraged. You see, Devon requested specifically, a dog that “never grew up”. To add to that, I couldn’t exactly have a tiny dog that could get squished to death either! NOR could we afford a dog that came along with a lot of allergies and health problems…we have 4 kids to take care of, you know! I have to admit that I was quite scared that it would be too easy to pick the wrong dog! I believe “pray without ceasing” was well exercised throughout this process!!
Finally, on a Saturday just two weeks before Devon’s birthday, I found myself walking past the sweetest little pup. He looked at me with the sweetest of all sad faces but darned if I didn’t want that breed. I purposely did NOT stop to pet him for fear that I would fall in love and kindly told him that I was not in the market for Boston Terriers and continued on my way. Sigh. I didn’t take but two more steps before I stopped and turned around and went straight back to this little package of pitifullness (if that’s not a word, it most definitely should be). By the time I wiggled my hand under the gate and he plopped his little head in it, my heart belonged completely to him. I went straight to the desk to adopt him, but was surprised to learn that because he was a stray, he had to wait the required 4 days for someone to claim him before he could be adopted out. I was going to have to wait until WEDNESDAY before I could adopt him! After much more discussion, I found out that the first car in line at the gate when they open gets first dibs on the dogs and that the earliest anyone had ever been there was 8 am. SERIOUSLY?!!!?!!!! Double sigh! So here we are. After a LONG wait Monday and Tuesday, I called to be sure no one had claimed our little dog and then prepared for an even LONGER wait Wednesday morning to claim the perfect dog for our Devon.
I pulled up, first to arrive, bright and early at 8 am to count down the 3 hours with both Devon and Chloe. Devon had no idea what we were doing until he saw the building…and now you know the rest of the story. Enjoy the pictures from our eventful morning!!!
So “Bones” found his forever home and Devon found his forever friend.