We decided to go to the Everett Animal Shelter without our daughters and "see" if there was a dog that matched our needs. We didn't want to take the girls and have them be disappointed when we left without a dog. The dog needed to be kid/baby friendly and cat friendly. The dog needed to have energy but not be aggressive. On Saturday, we were there when the shelter opened and looked around but found no matches. The next day, a friend texted us a picture of Bentley telling us how she remembered we had thought about adopting a Schnauzer. We went back on Monday to look around with our baby, our eldest was at school. Bentley was still there! He was full of anxiety and energy. Bentley had lived in a household without kids/babies and cats. The shelter did not know if he would be good for us. We took him out to the play area and he smelled our baby and calmed down. Bentley was the dog for us!
We decided to take him home. Arnie took him with him to pet sitting visits and he was back in time for our eldest to be home from school. What a great surprise! In the words of our eldest, "new dogs just make you feel happy!" We took Bentley with us to our eldest's baseball game. He had so much anxiety. At night we decided to sleep on the couch so he could get accustomed to his new home. Every time someone got up, he got up. Poor Bentley. We bought him a new bed - which could probably fit 4 dogs! But he decided to sleep NEXT to the bed and not on the bed.
We forgot how much is involved with a new dog. We have made a vet appointment, grooming appointment, and are looking for basic obedience classes. Bentley hit the jackpot with us. We still miss our dogs that passed away, no dog could ever replace them. Bentley feels "adopted" but I know with time he will become an established member of our family. I think we hit the jackpot too...
