Never a dull moment

As if we didn't have plenty of crazy things going on in our lives right now, we *almost* got a puppy this weekend. About a year ago, we were looking for a young (under 1 year old) male brindle Boxer. We liked the idea of having a Boxer that looked different than Charley Brown, and one that was young enough that Keaton could grow up with. We decided to stop our search and focus more on extending our family. Well, in light of recent events, and the fact that it's Spring again and it would be ideal time for us to potty train a puppy, I guess we are kind of on the hunt again. Thursday morning, Casey texted a picture of a 9 week old brindle Boxer puppy that was available in our area. I agreed to go meet him alone, since I was the one with the most objection over getting a dog right now. All of that went out the window as soon as I saw his little face. He was absolutely adorable and attentive. He was exactly what we had been looking for. Casey and Keaton met him, and we all fell in love with the little guy- so much so that we even put $100 deposit down to hold him until Friday so we could do a little more research on his breeder, and get the house ready. During that time, though, we found out some pretty damning things about the breeder. He had over 50 adult dogs in his care in 2011 alone. He also had two citations regarding inadequate shelter of the dogs. That alone made it a no-go for us. We do not want to spend the *large* amount of money they were asking on a dog that could potentially have genetic defects from being inbred, and we don't want to support places that overbreed dogs!! So although we lost money in the process, and were pretty bummed out about not getting the puppy, I think we made the best decision. We hope to be able to either get one from a breeder directly, or rescue one at a shelter. Lesson learned.

In other news, the Midwest is getting slammed with some pretty crazy weather right now. A lot of the middle section of the country is at high risk for tornadoes over the next 24 hours, and then it's heading our way. To repeat my current Facebook status, "I am starting to understand why people tend to group the behavior of children and animals to potentially bad weather. If Keaton's mood today is any indication, we are indeed in for some crazy storms in the near future!" It's true, though. Tough day with the little dude. I hope tomorrow's better!

Well, I'm exhausted after spending a good chunk of the afternoon with a large number of screaming children at a birthday party, along with my own child that screamed enough during the rest of the day. Time to veg out, watch some TV, and pass out. :)

-Ash