Happiness, August 15, 16, 17....19, 20---Carley!! She's keeping us busy! Work is also keeping me extremely busy. Hi Dana :)
Jesse will never be replaced...NEVER. We miss her terribly. I cry like a little girl at least once every day when thinking of that awful July 15. Our grief over Jesse has had us thinking about death, and endings, with no new beginnings.
We were not thinking of another dog at all on the day that I walked into our local post office to get the mail. The post office is small of course, as is our little town just 10 minutes outside the big city of our county--heh. People post all sorts of notes and bulletins on the wall to the right as one walks through the doors. I always scan the board. Sometimes I see the funniest things...things like, "Lost female goat; white... If found, small reward. Please call...."
Anyways, on the 9th of this month, while scanning the "bulletin board" at our post office, I found a ragged little piece of paper stuck there...."Free to good home; 2-year old black female toy poodle. Weighs 8lbs, friendly, house broken, loves other dogs and cats....call...
I just really wanted to know the story. I couldn't imagine someone giving away a healthy, well behaved toy poodle. So I snatched the paper, got the mail, and proceeded to the car. On my way to town, I called the number on the paper I'd held tightly in my hand since I left the post office.
The lady who answered the phone told me she had just posted the note in our post office the day before. She explained that though they really loved the dog, she and her husband both work 10 and 12 hour days, and while they work all these hours, they leave the dog in a pet carrier. Oh god! An active little 2-year old, locked up for upwards of 12 hours, in a pet carrier!! The woman proceeded to tell me that she and her husband had just moved into their brand new double-wide home, and they feared leaving her out in the house all those hours. They wanted her to feel safe in a more contained area....etc. etc. etc.
These folks obviously have different priorities than Sam and myself. They are concerned with their home, carpeting, etc...Sam and I are concerned with all that lives inside our home. Carley is house broken. And here at our place, she and the other animals have a doggie door with a big fenced in area of our yard, just off our little back porch. This gal runs in and out of that door all day; just like a kid! 
Bentley wagged his tail the day I took him to see Carley. He sniffed. She sniffed. And the tails kept wagging. This was the deciding factor in whether I would take the little thing home with me that day. Bentley and Pickle had been grieving the same as me and Sam. Life was dull and lonely. Bentley was lost when we went to work. He was crazy all over us when we arrived home in the evenings. He knew this little gal did not smell like Jesse, and could not be Jesse; but, he said okay to the idea of having a new buddy...life.
Pickle (previously Vic's cat) thought Jesse was his mother. He's been sleeping in her spot, and laying there at different times throughout the day. When he was on the porch in the evenings and heard other dogs barking near by, he would take off in the general direction of the barking. He's still not fully accepted Carley's arrival. He spends time near her, and then walks away with a look on his face that says, "Whatever!" He isn't mean with her. And he does seem a bit interested....over time Pickle will settle with the deal. Both Bentley and Pickle realize that Carley is young and active. They seem to be accepting of that part. Bentley realizes she's still kind of... well, childish. He tolerates it all very well, and has remained the gentleman. He's a good dog. He's my first baby in my marriage to Sam...
And that's how Miss Carley came to be.
