the dog

12 hours later we're still using the name Penny, although since she has NO idea that's her name we can still change it if we come up with something we like more. At the SPCA she was called "Gracie."

We wanted a dog and we were mostly just waiting for our Colorado trip to be over to get one. And then being in Breckenridge, home of some of the coolest and friendliest dogs ever, only added fuel to the fire. We decided we'd go check out the SPCA sometime this week during Matt's lunch break. And that's where we met Gracie/Penny/what have you. She was happy but calm, and when we took her to the private room to get to know her, she played very charmingly with her leash and pranced around. She has a tendency to flop at your feet when you've been stationary for a bit. And her white markings on her black body are quite adorable. Matt was concerned about getting a dog on our first outing, which I understood, but I also recognized that this particular dog met all of my criteria and we didn't need to delay. True, there would have been others. So how did this come about, you might ask? Well, as anyone with whom the topic of dogs had come up will know, getting the house was really just the first step in dog ownership. Matt and I both other dogs out there, but this one was right in front of us, needing a loving home and being so cute besides! So that was it :)


I took Matt back to work and returned to fill out the paperwork. Penny and I loaded up in the car and went to see her new grandparents, Marc and Susan. We hung out with them for a long time, first in the side yard and then in the breakfast area - Penny is not house trained so we were being careful. She was mellow but friendly, and was quite happy to just sit with us. And she was courteous to Murphy. Dad and I went by Cisco to say hi to Tom, Willy, and Erik. Then I took Penny over to meet some more family: John, Susie and Luke. She was well-behaved with them too, although she did want to frolic with Nellie. In the backyard, John pulled some weeds and Pen got them in her mouth and pranced around with them. She also got in their little pond and got a bit wet - yep, I think she's part Lab! They offered to babysit her while I went to Petco to get some supplies. When I returned she was laying at Susie's feet while she did e-mail. What a good dog!


As one might expect, a Penny album has been started on our picture web site.