Looking to the Future

Although so very soon, we are considering a puppy.

Not that we expect, nor even want, to replace Speedy in some way.  But somehow it just seems right . . .

Ben actually mentioned it a few days ago, which surprised me.  Then, he told me that his mother asked him if we were going to get another puppy and he told her "probably".

It has been on my mind and I guess on my heart, too.

We are not going to run right out and do this today.  My eyes and ears are open and if the right puppy happened along out of nowhere, we would certainly be open to that.  But we are thinking more along the lines of late spring, hopefully close to the beginning of my summer break, but if that doesn't work out, it will happen when the time is right.

And a Border Collie - definitely a Border Collie.  I'm hoping a male for Dean, but of course we will be open to a girl if that is the right dog.

I am open to the possibility of a rescue, but I think that Ben and I are inclined toward a very young dog.  Sammie is 14, Dean is going on 8 in just a month, and Tessa is "about 5".  Even a 2 - 3 year old seems too close to the others in age and none of them are super young anymore.

So, I will be putting feelers out to find possible breeders (or rescue puppies) and we will begin our search.

I know this will have its challenges, but I have done it once successfully and back then I had no idea which way was up as far as raising a puppy went.

I also know that new life in the house will be a blessing.  And it is my hope - although of course I will consider the individual dog - that he or she will become my main Freestyle dog.  Although Tessa dances well and loves it, she really is my Agility partner.

For the record, we will rescue again.  I think just probably not this time . . .

In everyday happenings, Tessa and Dean had Agility last night.  It was very, very good to get back to that.  It was definitely a help to get out there with each of them to work the courses.

Tessa was her solid self.  She got a little odd with the tire because the first time she approached, it was too high.  She didn't forget that and didn't have confidence with it.  Hopefully there will be no tires in the course on Sunday . . .

But we did two rear crosses and I was just as pleased as could be.  Nobody even noticed - they are getting to be that "normal" for us!  I still feel like I'm faking them, but it's working.

Dean and I had a blast.  There was this one part of the course where I really had to run and just leave him to do the jumps kind of behind me as I got to where I needed to be.  I didn't think it would work, but it did - perfectly!!  It was a lot of fun.

Dean was so eager to be out there.

So, life is moving forward.  I am still missing my boy and sometimes it hurts a lot.  This week has felt about 3 weeks long.  But we are pushing on . . .