Oakley.

I always thought it was crazy after someone’s dog died that they got another one. How could they do that? Are they replacing the other one? Funny how we have so many judgemental thoughts that are so far from the truth. Here’s my truth. When Trooper passed away I was (am) broken, beyond devastated….like….this is one of the most horrendous things to happen to me in my lifetime. It was inevitable. We all die. I knew that, but with him, I literally could never even bring myself to think about it and I think that is where I wasn’t prepared and it made it that much harder. My heart physically hurt so bad I just didn’t think there was any possible way of having any more dogs. I couldn’t go through that pain again. But, through time and healing, I discovered that it’s different. I knew he was different. But something magical happened where now that he is gone, it’s like my heart has opened up to give more love to others. People try to pin point reasons or times of when it’s the perfect time to have more children. If you waited for finances, you would never have kids. If you waited to have endless amounts of energy, you would never have kids. None of those logistics matter if your desire says otherwise. You heart always finds the way to make it happen. I was just getting used to having only 2 dogs. In fact, I actually didn’t mind it. It’s not like Trooper was the difficult one, it’s just a little easier going from 3 to 2. And then with Mason, it was like I had plenty on my plate already. One day I was scrolling through Facebook and someone on my Moms group had posted looking to re home her puppy. Now, mind you, I can be a strong independent woman at times and resist the urge to adopt every single dog out there. It’s not the first time something has come up, but this was different. I don’t even know what it was really but my heart wouldn’t let it go. I immediately told Brock and his response was “We don’t need another dog.” I then went to go lay down but couldn’t stop thinking about it. I messaged the lady just to ask a few more questions even though she was pretty specific already. I then went back to Brock and didn’t say anything but gave him a hug. Now, for those of you who don’t know this about me…I am NOT a touchy feely person at all. However, I think I must do this form of affection when I am trying to get my way. I didn’t say anything and he says to me “So did she message you back?” I said……”maybe.” Brock later then said that his original thought of "we don't need another dog" isn't what it is about. And he was right, it is about what that dog needs from us. We have a loving home that we can give her the life she needs. On our way to pick her up I was crying because I felt like I was taking someone’s dog away from them. It appeared, when we had visited her the first time that she was in a loving home. There were toys and treats and it looked like she was being well taken care of. I just didn’t understand aside from “we are too busy” how someone could just get rid of their dog. When we got there, the owner walked Oakley out to us with a mangled leash. She also had a dog bed that looked brand new. I was a bit puzzled where the treats, toys, etc were that I had seen earlier. The owner said, “oh, no, that stuff isn’t hers, that’s our other dog.” ……so now I am even more perplexed. They then proceeded to tell me that they just got a new German Shepard puppy and didn’t want Oakley “interfering” with it’s training. I was absolutely shocked to hear this. So they rescued Oakley from the human society, had her for 4 months, then got ANOTHER puppy, decided they didn’t like the original dog, so now getting rid of her?? WOW!! Dogs are NOT disposable. As we drove away and she sat in the front seat looking up at Brock, I knew it was not what it had seemed and we were giving her the home she truly deserved. A little bit of back story on Oakley. She originally was shipped up to WI from Kentucky with 28 other “animals” and was named Arya at just 7 months old. (We have her original shipping manifest.) She then was given all her vaccines and was adopted by the previous owners. They renamed her “Gypsy.” What is so very ironic, is that “Gypsy” literally means someone who travels around and does not have a permanent home. Why on earth would you name your dog that knowing her given history? We thought long and hard about what we wanted her name to be. Something that truly embodied her personality. We decided on Oakley. She is very outdoorsy (off leash), likes to hunt, and is sporty. It has now been 5 months since Oakley has been in our lives. It’s a different dynamic, as it always is when new members are brought into the family. I now have 3 sassy ladies to deal with. Trooper was always my man in the middle, never caused drama. Oakley loves to cuddle, like…a lot. She loves to love. She is a pretty zippy pup with quite a bit of energy. She is amazing off leash and loves to wander around our wooded area. She is a protector of her people. She wants to please her master, which I am not used to. I am used to dogs that rule the world and you are just living in it. Oakley isn’t like that. Oakley has a worker mentality and her job is to provide security to her humans. We did have her DNA tested but it was such a mix of things that I am not sure if I believe all of it. I tested Trooper with a different brand, so I think I will retest Oakley with that brand. Regardless of breed, and regardless of those doofy ears, Oakley is living the life she so very much deserves to have. Love the animals because all they ever do is love you back.

And for now,

Xoxo