Monday, April 21, 2008

Chaos Arrives!

Sorry for the delay in posting this. Yesterday was so busy! The kidlets had their annual Irish dance recital. I had a class to teach last night. And I hadn't had any alone time with hubby all weekend.

So Chaos arrived on Saturday. This picture is right after she'd come in. We did take a video of that moment, but it didn't turn out like any of us expected. The kids didn't say a word. They just stared. At me. At the dog. At Chaos' owner. I guess they were stunned speechless. It was very strange since I thought they'd be jumping up and down, screaming and laughing. We must have done a pretty good job in letting them think they wouldn't get a dog.

The kids warmed up pretty quickly to the idea though. Soon they were beaming, all wide smiles and bright eyes, as they showed Chaos the backyard. A part of them still can't believe it. They kept asking yesterday, "Do we really get to keep her?"

I asked if they wanted to keep her. The answer...a resounding yes!

They have been having so much fun with her. The poor dog gets taken on walks all the time. They rub her all the time. When Chaos was having a tough time sleeping that first night, Mackenna asked if she could take her out of the crate and sleep with her on the couch. Chaos is already top dog around here! She's going to be as spoiled as our cats.

But we are setting a few rules. During meal time, she's supposed to stay on her cushion. Mainly because I don't want the kids feeding her from the table. When we go out during the day, if she doesn't go with us, she goes in her crate.

Chaos also met the cats. She was wonderful with them. The cats not so much. A lot of hissing and growling. It's going to take time.

Last night, she had trouble getting settled for the night. We decided to close all the doors upstairs and give her full reign of the downstairs and upstairs hallway/landing. She did much better and has both her crate, her pillow or the couch where she can finally sleep.

Anyway, Chaos is an awesome dog. We are enchanted and in love with her. Even Hubby. All his reservations about getting a dog have seemed to disappear. After the dance recital last night, he skipped his program at the church to go home and be with Chaos instead. He had never fed Angus until I got sick, but he's already feeding Chaos without being asked!

This morning Chaos and I drove him to the airport. He told her to be good and take care of us. It was one of those heart melting moments. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more where Chaos is concerned. It feels as if our family is truly complete now!

As you can imagine, our weekend was so amazing. How was yours?