I’m Getting A Teddy Bear

Hello Friends!

I’M GETTING A DOGGY! ON MONDAY!

So… I’m freakin’ flat FIRED UP!

Okay, okay. Story time. So sit ya’ll’s selves down and let me take you on a wild ride.

My last post covered from February 18-February 23.

So. I pick up February 28. Early in the morning–for us; I guess a 6:30 departure isn’t all that early for most people. Anyway. 6:30 AM Mom and I leave home to go pick up Ozzy.

We get home and I run him around our backyard a little and toss him the tennis ball, trying to wear him down. Put together with his regular energy, his nervous energy had the poor boy on his feet all day. Meaning he had me on my feet all day. Meaning I slept well that night.

March 1. Mainly, this day involved walks, ball tossing (because, unlike Daisy, he actually BROUGHT THE BALL BACK!), and a bit of seat-of-the-pants training. Which, didn’t go so hot because I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing. But, Ozzy’s intelligence made me look good.

March 1–evening. Temperament test. This was… enlightening. Here’s word for word what I wrote that night.

To start, we were wrong about Ozzy’s breed. He isn’t a Lab/Aussie mix. More like largely hound. Which are still AMAZING dogs; especially for hunting dogs or anything that will involve his nose.

However, since he’s been allowed to follow his nose for four years, it’d be hard to train him to ignore it. And, after 2 years of training, I’d end up with ~1-3 tears of service in him and I’d have to start saving again almost immediately for the next dog. So, all said, Ozzie isn’t the right dog for my Service Dog. However, if this excursion did anything, it gave me hope that this isn’t some unicorn in the clouds. That I could be as assertive as I needed to be with an adult dog. All that said, if anyone needs/wants an incredibly sweet and intelligent dog, I may know someone you could contact. 

And, I felt it my civic duty to place this wonderful dog with the right home, so, should anyone be interested, here’s a little more:

To whom it may concern:

Ozzy is an extremely intelligent and sweet dog perfect for a family that either loves being outside or needs a little nudge! He is easily trainable and–once he loves you (which doesn’t take long)—an adorable little shadow.

Curious and nose-driven, walking into the backyard becomes an exciting foray. After said excursion, he’s happy to curl up on your feet and nap, basking in petting and affection.

As previously stated, Ozzy is intelligent and easily trainable. Appreciates strong leadership and lots and lots of petting. Ozzy is fluent in sit and fetch; and is developing skills in walking beside on a leash, stay, ignore it and release.

After meeting a service dog trainer and going through a temperament test, it’s official; he’d make a wonderful pet!

Birds and squirrels in your yard, beware. 😉

The weekend of March 1st. I signed contracts and filled out paperwork to make my (future) partnership with Scout’s Legacy all official and everything. We got quite a few tips about ‘would this dog work for you?’ ‘we heard you were looking and what do you think?’ One was adopted already, one was a bit too old, and one… anybody else starting to hear Goldilocks and the Three Bears? No? Just me? Oh-kay.

Well, the last one I thought looked fine. A lady was fostering Lab-mix pups and was wondering if this would be a good forever home. Well, I’d heard the tune of Lab-mixes before and this time I guarded my heart just a bit better. I sent their pictures to Ms. Amanda along with information that the foster puppy raiser herself looked into Scout’s Legacy and was impressed with them in turn.  In my heart of hearts I crossed my fingers and lifted prayers. Not that I was willing to admit that even to myself.

And it seemed that was the right choice, as there was a bit of a lull in activity. I continued to read and sign and send money to Scout’s Legacy to get set up and everything.

And then.

Oh, and then.

March 8th. Morning. Mom reaches out to the lovely lady fostering the pups to see if progress has been made. Turns out, it had. Recently. As in, earlier that morning.

March 8th. Afternoon. I get a text from Ms. Amanda that the temperament test for the pups is set for that night. We start praying. This time I don’t send out a request for prayer. I don’t know why, but I just… I felt like this result was a bit more… solid. If that makes sense. Prayer can change everything, and I was praying more this time around, but, when you ask for prayer about something and the answer’s no, and then you ask for prayer for the same thing not a week later… I’ll admit, I was a bit scared. But, I myself was praying more this time around.

March 8th. Evening. WEEEEE HAVE A WINNER! And here he is:

March 8th. Night. We run everything by our landlord who has been hesitant about a puppy from the beginning.

He okays it. On a few conditions, but he didn’t say, ‘no puppies’.

So… I’M GETTING A PUPPY! I’M GETTING A PUPPY! I’M GETTING A PUPPY! I’M GETTING A PUPPY!

… on Monday!

PLUS. At the beginning of all this, I wanted a rescue female pup. Because I thought a female in heat would be easier to manage than a male with a mating urge.

Over the past two weeks, however, I’ve learned I can be dominant enough to make a full-grown dog that’s only known me fewer than 24 hours obey. I’ve also learned from Ms. Amanda that when the dog decides “‘I’m a big, dominant (or playful) boy,'” and you say, “‘you are not a big, dominant (or playful) boy,'” he’ll obey the alpha. Suddenly, the teeter-totter of a female in heat and a male adolescent dog isn’t looking the same.

What am I getting?

A rescue dog.

A puppy.

A male.

Teddy.

A name we found–when Josie looked it up–means ‘gracious gift’. Which, anyone who’s followed my story, knows that’s EXACTLY what Teddy is.

Conclusion? God is big enough in my life, too. It’s taken longer than it should for me to recognize and accept that. Also, as silly and obvious as it sounds: don’t be afraid of abundance. It’s a blessing, not a curse. What have we come to when ‘abundance’ is labelled ‘bad’? It’s the values behind the resources that are good or bad, not the resources themselves. And God is big enough in that, too.

I kneel before my King, humbled and grateful.