Doesn't Chloe look like she'll be a great big sister? =]
Ever since we first decided to get Chloe, we'd always been talking about eventually having two pups. I grew up with two dogs in the house, and I just thinks it's so nice for them. They have a playmate and they also have company around when we have to leave them (which, of course, makes me feel less guilty for leaving, too).
The difference, though, was that when I was young and we got our second dog (April), our first family pet (Cricket) was already about 8 years old. So even though they kept each other company, 8-year-old Cricket wasn't all that interested in playing with little miss April.
So Travis and I had always said we wanted to get our second pup when Chloe was still pretty young and active. We were originally thinking about when Chloe would be about 2 (which would still be another year or so from now). But the more we talked about it, and the more we saw Chloe get so excited over getting to play with other puppies, we decided to go ahead and start looking. We realized that, to us, it didn't really matter whether we got a puppy now or a year from now, but Chloe would be ready for and excited about a new little sister any time.
So we started talking about breeds and whatnot and did some exploring in stores around the area and online. We did our research, and we had it narrowed down to a few different mixes, and then we finally settled on a puggle (for those who don't know, that's a beagle-pug mix). Now mind you, I've never thought that pugs were that cute...well, they're cute in an ugly way, but I'm not really into that. Puggles, though...well, some of them still look an awful lot like a pug, but some are just super cute. So we decided we'd just have to find the right little girl. We know that puggles are great family dogs, very loving and sweet, but also super playful, and she'll be just about Chloe's size when she's full-grown, too, which is perfect.
So after exhausting all of our options in the area, we started looking online for breeders (that is, after all, how we found Chloe, and we ended up with the best puppy ever). Very quickly, we found a breeder with a litter of puggle pups that's actually on our route to Iowa (we're coming home in mid-November during Travis' break between quarters). We found the one we liked, and she's the cutest little thing, and she'll be ready to go right when we're coming through the area, so we're going to pick her up on the way, just like we did with Chloe when we visited Arizona in February. So we'll have her in less than a month!
We're so excited for Chloe to have a little sister, and to watch them get to know each other. We're actually glad that they'll be adjusting to each other in Iowa, not in our home first. We think it'll make the transition a little easier, and Chloe's less likely to be territorial (not that she's usually territorial anyway, but you never know).
We've been working on names for this little girl, and I think we've basically decided, but I'm not going to share until we're 100%. It shouldn't be too long. I'll be sure to post with updates on the newest little member of our family! =]
Isn't she a doll? We love that she's got the beagle coloring! Most puggles don't.
