From Lowes to Petco

I promised Kate a long time ago that when we had a home and once things got somewhat settled that we could bring a dog into our lives. She has always grown up with dogs while I have never had a pet in my life ( outside of fair goldfish and random minnows I caught in my friends creek). So when she asked me if now was the time for us to FINALLY get a dog, I broke down and said yes. True, we are newly and freshly in our first home and yes there are many projects on our list... but to be fair, there will always be a project on our list.. and I did make a promise.

We opted to get our first dog from "Adopt a Lab", an organization that rescues Labradors that have been left behind, many of which are at risk of being euthanized.
We went back and forth on whether we should get a puppy or a older, grown dog. When Bella came up available for adoption, we noted that she was supposedly 1 to 2 years old, not quite a puppy, and possibly, hopefully a little more grown. In the end, we wanted to be sure that we were able to leave the dog at home for an extended time while we work.
So, Bella arrived on a Saturday afternoon in this:

We were quite amazed the she along with 22 other dogs were in this little get up!

When Bella was finally brought to us, she was FULL of energy and quite confused, after the 17 hour long journey with all her dog palls.

We also quickly determined that she is not a full bred Labrador... but she is, in fact, a Mockadore... a dog that ACTS like a Labrador. We think that she is either a Lab / Beagle mix or a Beagadore, or a Lab / Pit mix or a Pitadore... at any rate, she is mostly Lab and she is all together a cutie!

Yet we have a very happy and somewhat tearful Kate.

Once in the car, she fell asleep and was sweetly ( and somewhat oddly ) quiet the whole trip home.

And here is the happy couple together, home at last.

Well, Bella has some learning to do. She is pretty good in the house. She sits when asked, she is quite lovable and playful, as a lab should be. She was crate trained with her foster parents, so we have a crate for her which she likes quite well. Outside she is VERY, VERY excited and interested to see, smell, and taste everything. She is quite strong on the leash as well.

In the end, we think that she will learn very quickly and become a very loving and fun member of the family. And who knows, she may end up helping out with painting some walls!