Puppies and Empty Nests

So we got a new puppy shortly after Christmas. We'd wanted a little dog since my folks got their Yorkie a little over a year ago. We'd been looking off and on but hadn't seen one that struck our fancy or would be the right fit at the right time for our family. Breaks from school are generally good for us to add to our family as it makes training and acclimating easier so we started looking again this winter break. We found Chula, a 2 yr old, black and tan chihuahua from the same rescue where we found Mo. We thought adopting an older dog might be a better match so that we wouldn't have to go through puppyhood again. Unfortunately, when inquiring about her we found out that she doesn't like cats. However, because our experience had been so positive with them before we decided to just wait so that we could work with them again. A day later they called and let us know that one of the adoptions for one of Chula's puppies had fallen through and would we be interested. One look at her picture and we were hooked. (who doesn't fall in love with puppy pictures?)

We picked her up the Sunday after Christmas. Everything about her is wonderful. Three weeks later and she has fit into our household seamlessly and I find myself wanting to rush home from work just to be able to snuggle with her. (Although truth be told - she's been coming to work with me and getting plenty of snuggles there... just not from me, from the staff and kids that come up for their puppy fix). We plan on training her as we did Mo, to work on being a therapy dog.

As I sit in my recliner at night, with her snuggled up to my neck, watching a favorite TV show it takes me back to those early years when the kids were babies and you just wanted to sit and hold them forever. With my kids in their teens and nearing adulthood, little Mia has pre-emptively filled that empty nest that I know is coming. Not that my kiddoes aren't down for the occasional snuggle - they just don't fit the way they used too.

The nice thing about Mia, being a chihuahua (which we NEVER thought we'd get) is that she'll stay small and snuggly. The even better thing about getting her while the kids are still here is that yes, I am making sure she knows she's a dog, even if I let her pretend to be human for a couple hours each night :)

Here's hoping that we all find things to help us through the empty nest years and remember that puppies are fun but friends are even better. May we all remain close so that we can commiserate and walk our spoiled adult dogs together.