AFAustin
Flashlight Enthusiast
My friends,
Last month I posted the story of how my family lost our beloved English Pointer, Chula, to a sudden and unexpected illness. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=203740 We are devoted dog people in my family and this was a very painful loss for us. I can tell you that the many kind and understanding comments I received from good hearted, dog loving CPFers were a real comfort during this time.
I said in that original post that I firmly believe that dog people should have dogs and visa versa, and this time I did take my own advice. Our plan was to wait till we had our two youngest kids safely back in school (our older daughters being grown and already gone from the nest) before doing any looking for a new dog, but the internet is a seductive thing. My wife cried every day after we lost Chula, and I wasn't in any better shape myself. The only thing that seemed to put a smile on either of our faces was looking at rescue dogs and puppies on Petfinder and similar websites. When we came across a photo of a little 3 month old Pointer female, who had been abandoned and then rescued after walking into a church (!) in San Antonio, we felt the tug. She was now being fostered by the kind people at a shelter outside San Antonio in Boerne, and, obviously sensing two soft touches, they were wonderful about e-mailing us photos, answering questions, and generally making it easy to come have a look.
I took off work and we drove down to Boerne on a Friday, with a whole prepared story about having several dogs to see that day, so as to not feel obliged to make any rash decisions. Our alibi crumbled within 5 minutes of being there with the little pup, whom my wife has named "Mia" (Spanish for "mine"). We brought her home, of course, and are happy that our youngest kids got a chance to know her before leaving for college. My wife is now in full housebreaking, don't chew the furniture, etc., mode, and is smiling again. Mia is Chula's spiritual sister in every way, a happy and gentle little dog who already points at the critters and loves being with the family.
Below are a photo of her when she first got to the shelter, and one taken soon after we got her home. As you can see, she is already stretching out, and I think she is going to be a beautiful dog and a beautiful Pointer. She is already a beloved addition to our family. We will never forget our beautiful Chula, but we believe Mia will carry on her tradition in a noble fashion.
Thank you to all my dog loving friends here who have helped us through this time. I wanted to post the follow up, and happier, chapter here as well.
Andrew
Last month I posted the story of how my family lost our beloved English Pointer, Chula, to a sudden and unexpected illness. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=203740 We are devoted dog people in my family and this was a very painful loss for us. I can tell you that the many kind and understanding comments I received from good hearted, dog loving CPFers were a real comfort during this time.
I said in that original post that I firmly believe that dog people should have dogs and visa versa, and this time I did take my own advice. Our plan was to wait till we had our two youngest kids safely back in school (our older daughters being grown and already gone from the nest) before doing any looking for a new dog, but the internet is a seductive thing. My wife cried every day after we lost Chula, and I wasn't in any better shape myself. The only thing that seemed to put a smile on either of our faces was looking at rescue dogs and puppies on Petfinder and similar websites. When we came across a photo of a little 3 month old Pointer female, who had been abandoned and then rescued after walking into a church (!) in San Antonio, we felt the tug. She was now being fostered by the kind people at a shelter outside San Antonio in Boerne, and, obviously sensing two soft touches, they were wonderful about e-mailing us photos, answering questions, and generally making it easy to come have a look.
I took off work and we drove down to Boerne on a Friday, with a whole prepared story about having several dogs to see that day, so as to not feel obliged to make any rash decisions. Our alibi crumbled within 5 minutes of being there with the little pup, whom my wife has named "Mia" (Spanish for "mine"). We brought her home, of course, and are happy that our youngest kids got a chance to know her before leaving for college. My wife is now in full housebreaking, don't chew the furniture, etc., mode, and is smiling again. Mia is Chula's spiritual sister in every way, a happy and gentle little dog who already points at the critters and loves being with the family.
Below are a photo of her when she first got to the shelter, and one taken soon after we got her home. As you can see, she is already stretching out, and I think she is going to be a beautiful dog and a beautiful Pointer. She is already a beloved addition to our family. We will never forget our beautiful Chula, but we believe Mia will carry on her tradition in a noble fashion.
Thank you to all my dog loving friends here who have helped us through this time. I wanted to post the follow up, and happier, chapter here as well.
Andrew
