Where to even start? I guess from the beginning. I grew up with pets. We always had a dog, and we had a cat from the time I was one years old until she passed away when I was 20 and in college. When one dog went to doggie heaven, we would soon get another. Our dogs were always large, outside dogs, with the exception of the one I had as a toddler. In addition to dogs and our cat, we also had fish at one point, chickens, pigs during the summer, and a steer. At one point, we even had two dogs. However, those dogs were always outside.
My grandparents always had smaller inside dogs, and since they lived so close to us, I was around their dogs all the time. As I got older, I started liking dogs less. They bark too much, they jump up on you, they slobber all over you (which is pretty gross), and they like to roll around in the dirt, so they are often dirty. I especially started disliking inside, yappy dogs.
In college, I wasn't around animals at all, and I liked how clean everything was. I liked not having cat hair on my clothes, and my experiences with dogs at this time came from visits to family members with dogs. One such dog jumped up and ripped a brand new pair of nylons on one such visit. I really didn't care for that dog before that, and his destroying my nylons right when I was about to head out with my aunt didn't help.
Then, I served a mission to the South, where people get a little crazy about their dogs. My first area, just outside of Mobile, Alabama, was the worst. We would be on visits and these stinky dogs (I'm not talking about my distaste for dogs, I'm talking about their actual stench) would crawl all over my companion and I, and their owners would just let them. We'd go to a flea market on Saturday, and I talked to one lady who sold dog clothes. I asked her how many dogs she had, and she huffed a little and said, "Well I have 17 children." That was kind of the final straw, and I decided there was no way I would ever have an inside dog and obsess so much over a silly little animal.
Then, I married Brian. Brian grew up with a small house dog, and he loved that house dog so much. He loved going over to Lea's house and petting her dog Maggie. He didn't want an outside dog, which was the only dog I was willing to consider. We were at a stalemate, and the conclusion was that we'd just never have a dog.
Then we had children. After Gabe came along, I started feeling bad that our kids wouldn't learn those life lessons that can really only come by raising and caring for animals. I loved having pets and animals around as a child, and I felt bad that I was depriving them of that experience. At one point, right after having Gabe and not long after Lea and her family lost Maggie, I about decided that I could lay aside my prejudices and disgust and get a dog. One time, I was talking about it with my mom, and she said, "You know, I never liked cats, but when I'd come home from work at night, and everyone was in bed, I actually liked having [our cat] there with me while I unwound, and I was really glad that we had her." With that thought in my head, Brian met us at a shelter, and we almost brought a sweet little dog home. We didn't, though, because she shed a lot, and Gabe was so little. And I would be having surgery soon.
When I came to my senses after that episode, I was so glad to have dodged THAT bullet. (We really lose our minds through the whole child-bearing process. )
Then, Gabe started learning words. He'd see a dog and get so excited, saying, "Doggie! Doggie!" Meanwhile, Rachel was completely terrified of all dogs. I couldn't let this stand. I started looking on KSL (the local online classifieds) and through the Adopt A Pet website for a dog I was willing to have in our house. I even called about some, but every time, Brian would roll his eyes at me--actually, that's not true. I don't think Brian really rolls his eyes, so it would be Brian's equivalent of rolling his eyes--and convince me that we really didn't want a dog right now. I agreed with him, told myself to stop being crazy, and let the dog thing go. I don't like dogs, and the kids didn't need to have the same childhood I had had. In fact, that was pretty much impossible anyway.
Then, on Friday, July 13, 2018, I was sitting on my couch, putting off doing laundry, and I had the thought to check KSL for dogs. I hadn't looked for awhile, and I thought I had convinced myself of the error of such searches. I pulled out my phone, started heading to the internet browser until I screamed at myself inwardly for being so ridiculous. But the thought wouldn't leave, so in an effort to calm the inner crazy voice, I pulled up KSL and did my typical search.
Side bar: The only small dog I really gush over are yorkies, but they're not quite hypoallergenic, so I started lookin for Shih Tzu, Maltese, or some kind of poodle mix. I wanted a dog that was about a year old and already house-trained. I didn't want a brand new puppy. I wanted a female.
That day, one of the first dogs to show up was a little female Yorkie-Poodle mix that was six months old. The seller was offering a crate, a puppy yard, dog food, and a leash and collar to go with her for a reasonable price considering her breed. She was everything that I was looking for, except that she wasn't quite potty trained. Feeling quite silly, I texted the owner and I sent the link to Brian with something like, "I already know how crazy this is, but what do you think about this dog?" He thought she was cute, and we made arrangements to go meet her that night.
Brian was prepared to walk away dogless, and I was a wreck with my torn feelings on this whole thing. We met her, and we fell in love with her. Those owners had had her for about a week, but their other dog didn't like her so they couldn't keep her. Her previous owners had named her Rosie, and the ones we bought her from named her Lottie.
Brian and the kids took her home while I went to get our car from the dealership in Murray, where it had been getting either the remote start installed or the hitch. On my way home, I called my mom and said, "Are you sitting down? I got a dog today!" She was with my grandpa, who knows of my dislike of dogs because I would only let him bring his dog to my house if he couldn't find other arrangements. It really made him laugh to hear that I had a dog. In fact, I think the only time he's ever responded to a text that I sent him was when I sent a picture of Gracie. He texted back that she was a cute dog!
When I got home, this new little creature started following me around. Brian laughed that she clearly liked me the best out of everyone.
The next day, we decided to name her Gracie. We went to PetSmart and bought a few more things like a brush, shampoo, dry shampoo, a name tag, and treats. The PetSmart people were so nice to help us figure things out with our little puppy.
Rachel was nervous about this little dog at first, but that didn't last long.
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