Livin La Vida Lindsey: Summer!

Ever since we got married, Koy has talked about getting another dog. I came into the marriage with my dog Minnie who is a black wire-haired dachshund with a little white on her chest and beard. I got her from a shelter in Clifton, TX on January 26, 2007. We think she was about two years old at the time. So, that would make her seven now. She is the cutest, sweetest dog in the world, but she is getting a little older and she wasn't all that playful to begin with. She prefers to lounge around on the couch next to us instead of running and chasing toys in the yard. Koy loves Minnie and is a wonderful dad to her, and I think she now loves him more than me since he is home with her more often. Koy still wanted a big dog, though; one he could play around with, toss the ball to, take to the lake, etc. I have never owned a big dog before. Growing up, my family always had small dogs. So that's all I have known. I love all dogs, though, big and small, and was willing to get another dog when the timing was right. I was most worried, though, that Minnie wouldn't like a new dog in the household and would be stressed, depressed or aggressive.

We eventually decided that we would adopt a young, large-breed dog after we moved into a house with a yard and when we would be around a lot to care for the new arrival. We moved into our new home with a nice-sized backyard in April of this year. Then, we had contractors in the house painting and installing hardwood floors, and we went to Colorado for a week at the beginning of August for my friend Lea's wedding. Once we got back from our trip (and all the current work was done on the house), we decided it was the right time to start looking for a new dog/puppy.

We were interested in labs and golden retrievers, and we started looked at adoptable dogs on animal shelter and rescue group websites. Then on Saturday, August 11th, we took Minnie for a walk around the lake and decided to go by a few rescue group adoption events around town. That afternoon, we went to the DFW Rescue Me adoption event outside the World Market in Plano. We were interested in a couple different dogs, but we ended up deciding on an adorable lab mix puppy with red hair. Her foster family had named her Sara Lee because they said she was as sweet as pie, but we renamed her "Summer". She was at the event with her three brothers and sisters who were all born on 4/1/2012. Two of them were all black, and the other one had dapple coloring. Summer seemed to be the most energetic one of the bunch. We asked to see her and talked to the foster mom Robyn about her. We decided that we wanted to move forward with her and schedule a home visit which is the next step in the adoption process. Robyn said we could go ahead and take her home with us right then, and then one of the volunteers would come by our house later that afternoon for the home visit. I think we were a little shocked because we didn't really expect to go home with a dog that same day, but we said yes, wrote the check, and took her with us!

We have had Summer now for about 2 months and she is slowly starting to come out of her shell. She was very timid when we first brought her home and had a hard time getting her to come out of her crate to eat and go to the bathroom. She is now a very good eater and is sleeping in the bed with us. She is still skittish when there are loud noises or if we move around too fast around her, but I think she is getting better each day. She loves Minnie and tries to play with her, but Minnie doesn't play too much. Minnie doesn't seem to mind her, though, which is good. Koy even said he saw Minnie lay down by Summer in her bed/crate one day. I wish I would have seen that. Anyway, we are loving having her as a new addition to our family and hope she will be completely adjusted very soon.