Since we had to put Silence down a couple of months ago, we've been missing her terribly. Kevin and I have been talking about dogs for quite awhile--and trying to decide what breed would be best for our household. For him, a good hunting partner was necessary. For me, I needed a good, patient dog who could tolerate a toddler and be Gabriel's best friend through the years. After considering a few breeds, we finally came to the conclusion that a trusty 'ol Lab was still the way to go.
One thing we knew for sure was that we wanted a female. We are pretty particular about the personality of a dog. I know that having another dog like Silence will probably never happen again, but we wanted to get as close to her as possible. My intention was to visit different litters and then pay for or at least put down a deposit on one until we got back from our Vegas trip.
After speaking with several different people and "interviewing" them, the ones we visited were considerably weeded out. The first we visited was located in Summerville, but at first sight, I knew she wasn't the one. I politely told the man that we were still looking and would consider her, and then we continued our trek on to Orangeburg.
Jerry Mount has been breeding and training hunting labs for over 30 years. As soon as we saw this particular litter we were smitten by looks alone. The next step was a little more time consuming, as there were SEVEN females in his litter! We watched them play, and took note of how they reacted being handled different ways. Most importantly, we watched to see how Gabriel interacted with each one, and how they reacted to him.
After much thought, we finally settled on the one little girl who did not dig, bark much, and most of all was the only one who did not jump on him.
I'm not exactly sure how this happened, but somehow Kevin agreed to bring her home that day, and I agreed...perplexed and wondering if I'd misunderstood-especially since he was the one who was set on not having a puppy before our trip!
So, it was fun bringing the new puppy home and then shopping for her last minute. It felt like bringing a new baby home again. I have to admit that although I like her and was happy to have a puppy, it suddenly felt very real that Silence was gone. I couldn't help but feel saddened that we were still missing her, and moving on. Actually, bringing home a new puppy only made me miss her more.
So, we've had Molly for a week now, and she is slowly growing on me. Kevin has already become very attached to her, as he is the one mostly caring for her since my hands are full enough. Gabriel enjoys her very much, and she seems to enjoy him as well. She definitely helps to make our household a bit crazier, but she has quickly become a part of the family. I still haven't completely attached, but I like her and I know that through the years she and Gabriel will have very fond memories together. To me, that's the most important thing and my number one desire for having a new dog. I have my son, and that is the only thing I need. Not only that, it's all I can handle!
I'm sure that with time, Molly will settle down and be more along the lines of what I'm looking for, personally. I don't know if she will ever be as wonderful as Silence, but what I can tell you is that she has some very large shoes to fill.
