A New Hess Member... just not sure of her name yet

• Ok... so after an 8 year hiatus, Dave and I finally gave in and got a new 4 month old Bulldog/Pug. After Pugsley died and we were over the sadness, we found it kind of nice to not scoop poop, have dog hair on us and go out of town without worrying about "the dog."


• But every time we see the kids with someone else's dog I feel guilty that I am not giving them the memories, experiences and responsibilities of a dog. (Not that we don't love Max the cat... for a cat he is pretty ok... what other cat shares his room with all of the other cats and neighborhood racoons.)


• Some of my best memories growing up are of our dogs and I was feeling a bit selfish that I haven't been willing to let my kids have those memories too.


• Dave and the kids have been looking on KSL for months and have thought a 100 times that we had found our dog. Part of the problem has been agreeing on a dog. Long story short -- Dave found a bulldog yesterday (exactly what we wanted) and we all went to see her. Within 2 minutes of playing with her I knew I was outnumbered and Dave had already decided we were going to get her.


• After 2 ATM fiascoes (I had just about decided that meant we weren't supposed to get her) we loaded her up and took her home.


• So far -- she is great. She has gone potty (both kinds) outside in the same spot every time. She slept in her kennel all night long. She hasn't whined and I've only heard her bark once. We are only letting her be in the family room and downstairs and after Kenzi and Cam spending a few hours with her not letting her up the stairs into the kitchen she has been staying in the family room or basement. She doesn't jump on us either.


• The people who had her had 4 other dogs and it is pretty obvious they were pretty strict and trained her well. (Which is good cause I'm such a softy with puppies and would have a hard time being super strict).


• I'm sure we will have some chewed shoes, wet carpets, fighting kids, driving around in the car looking for her after the gate was left opened, and on and on and on... but for now we love Roxy, Luna, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Marley... or whatever we are going to call her.


• Her previous owners named her Lola... but since we already had a Lolo our first difficult challenge will be agreeing on a name!