welcome home.

Ever since giant, exuberant Magnus packed his dog bags and moved to our friend Chris’s Georgia farm,

the kids have been requesting another pet.

I have had dogs around me my entire life.

Kevin and I had acquired three very beloved dogs before our second year of marriage was completed.

We’re just dog people.

But this time, if we were going to get a new dog, we needed to do a little more planning.

I wanted a dog that was small enough to live inside so as not to run near the road or disturb our neighbors.

I didn’t want dog hair all over our house.

And we’re not big fans of yappy little dogs.

And, oh yeah, we wanted it to come without a price tag.

We scanned craigslist for weeks.

Kept cruising the online galleries of all the nearby humane societies.

And occassionally peered through the glass at the local puppy store – just to see what was out there.

We’d see a puppy here or there but something was always a little off –

a breed that shed a lot

or a puppy that was snappy with young children

or a high price tag.

Emma encouraged us, “Keep looking.  You guys will probably get lucky with a good puppy sometime.”

I guess sometime was yesterday.

An online listing of available puppies from a not-too-far-away humane society.

Three months old.

Two terrier-mix puppies.

A small adoption fee that included shots and deworming and neutering.

We drove forty-nine minutes (that’s what the GPS said) and were offered an open area with two playful pups to choose between.

The choice wasn’t all that hard.

We picked the calmer puppy.

The one with the wise brown eyebrows and the gray hairs under his chin.

The one that didn’t bite my hand and draw blood.

The one that played but didn’t leap.

The one that walked directly over to Otto Fox, leaned across his bare leg and peed all over it.

Yep.

That’s our new pet.

Please allow me to introduce . . .

Sir Oliver Twist and Shout.

The clever, sweet looking puppy that already fits right into our hearts and our home.

Sir because he looks that important.

Oliver Twist because this little man’s an orphan like the Charles Dickens’ character.

Twist and Shout because every Keigley dog has always had a Beatles reference in its name.

Welcome to this crazy life Sir Oliver.