Meet Silas

We've been talking on and off about getting a dog for months. Every time we've talked about it we always end up talking ourselves out of it. Until now. The day before Christmas Eve I saw an ad in our local paper for a dog up for adoption at the pound. For some reason I was quite taken with her. I cut the ad out of the paper and rang the pound from the bedroom so the girls wouldn't hear me.

The advertised dog had already been adopted, but I persuaded Paddy to take the girls for a visit anyway. They saw a sweet black lab-cross puppy and, unbeknownst to the girls, Paddy put our names down as interested in him.

Many long and complicated conversations later, we decided we would take him. On Monday we all went to the pound to pick up our "new member of the family" as Isobella calls him.  He sat quietly in the front passenger seat between my legs on the way home, and only threw up once! The girls were completely overjoyed. Isobella, who has wanted a dog for as long as she can remember, kept saying "I can't believe my dreams are coming true today!"

I've never owned a dog before, but Paddy had a family dog as a child.  We were concerned that it might not be the right time for us to become dog owners, with Abigail only nineteen months old, but it turns out that our Silas is a very mellow puppy. He has barely barked since we got him, and is not as boisterous as I feared. I don't let Abigail outside without me, as his friendly licks are a bit too much for her, but she's not too scared of him. Even the cat seems to be putting up with him.

To be honest I think part of the reason I was so taken with the idea of a dog is that I'm actually very clucky at the moment. I'd love another baby. But I've had three caesareans and I was under the impression that I would be advised not to have any more, so I had my tubes tied during Abgail's birth. Since then I've met and heard of plenty of women who have more than three caesareans, and I feel a bit cheated. I've also done a lot of reading and thinking about contraception in the last few months and I now have a completely new perspective. As well as that I've found three children is not much more complicated that two, in fact in many ways it's easier. And then there's Abigail. She walks around the house singing in baby talk. She's adorable, and I'm smitten.

Actually, we're all smitten!

So will Silas fulfill my baby longings? Probably not. But he's lovely. He really feels like part of the family. We'll get out more and do more exercise, and that's a good thing. We'll also acquire some new skills as we train him, and maybe even learn a thing or two about parenting in the process!

Any dog stories to share? Or hints for handling a puppy and a toddler?