So we decided to get a dog...

...and then we thought better of it. By the first "we" I mean Teri and by the second "we" I mean that Teri's brother David and I thought better of it. Teri, who at a very young age used to own something like 12 dogs at one time, immediately jumped on my idea that we take the kids down to PetSmart to see the dogs up for adoption. Once we were there she fell in love with an older German Shepard/Golden Retriever mix. Kirk (the dog) couldn't stop giving lots of love to Teri and Gibby. He, even at his healthy 60-70 pounds, would occasionally think he was a lap dog and just back right up into your lap and just wait for you to start stroking his back. Then he'd get up and want to check everyone out. He was very protective of Gibby and even came over to nuzzle his head against Gibby's so the little guy would stay warm. Then he'd cuddle up to Teri and lean right into her. Teri was in love. But we really don't have the space for a dog to run around in.

Once Teri had given up hope of adopting him she wanted to adopt two 3-month old kittens who have been together since birth and are pretty adorable. Teri was sort of crushed when she realized that trying to take care of a newborn baby and a new pet/pets had disaster written all over it. But she sacrificed her longterm animal desires and renewed her vow to someday adopt a pet.

The whole trip was funny. I was working on Thursday when I mentioned to one of my co-workers that Teri and I really wanted to get a Chocolate Lab Retriever. After all, who doesn't love those dogs? They are loyal, active, fun-loving, and all around good looking dogs. Well, my casual comment led to my coworker immediately looking up Chocolate labs that were up for adoption from shelters or foster families. One of the labs was going to be at a Chandler PetSmart last Saturday, so we packed up the kids and went down.

But just as we got there, Jake, the lab we went down to see, got adopted. Of course, with our small yard we figured that Jake wouldn't like our house as much as someone else's so that was really ok. We then decided to help McKay turn his love of animals in books into a love of animals he can really touch. It went...ok.

McKay loved the golden retriever puppy. I think McKay liked the fact that he was bigger than the puppy, plus that puppy just loved McKay. While Uncle David and McKay were exploring the puppy, Teri and Gibby met up with Kirk, the older Shepard/Retriever mix I mentioned earlier. McKay wasn't so sure about Kirk even though Kirk liked to give him kisses. Actually, McKay wasn't sure about any dog that was near his size.

Considering McKay's absolute fear of big dogs that day, I couldn't figure out why he would want to go up to a Borzoi that had a muzzle on.


Borzois, as you can see, are big dogs. This particular dog was even bigger than your typical Borzoi. But McKay was undetered. He kept getting closer and closer until he started saying, "Horsie! Horsie! Neigh...neigh." Yes, my son thought the Borzoi was a horse. But I guess I'll let it slide this time...as long as he gets a little better at his multiplication tables. The kid is starting to slack.