One year has flown by so fast yet so much has happened!

Luna Tuna is a one year old!

October 1st, 2016 we drove 2 hours to receive our new little girl, Luna, a beautiful black lab. The night before, there was a black moon in the sky, her name was a no-brainer, Luna!

I am really still unclear to this day why we did this since Grace, our 6-year-old black lab was trained and very easy. All I know is it was time to shake it up a bit in our household. And boy did we ever.

Leading up to this decision of getting a puppy was quite the travel. I am a huge supporter of rescuing rather than going to a breeder. (There are many reasons why I lean this way, too many to list.) So we saw a mixed female of whippet and lab through a great rescue organization, and we found this breeder of Labradors. We met the mixed female. She was adorable, but something didn’t feel “right” so to speak. I kept leaning towards a specific breeder.

I placed my reservation on a black female puppy, and the day came when the phone rang with the news … one of the babies was ours. I asked for 72 hours to finalize my decision.

The conversations after the phone call involved sentences like:  this will be a lot of work, training, our time would not be ours for a bit, double expenses with two dogs… and a lot of this would fall on me since I work out of the home. But overall, something was pulling at my gut, like God’s hand was reaching in and saying you must move forward and get this baby. This feeling was so strong I felt like someone was punching me from the inside out. It stayed for a long time in my logical brain and not my heart, to the point I declined the puppy. We declined the puppy.

Over a few weeks, I still had that deep sensation in my gut, and I was watching in the private Facebook group all the others getting excited about their new babies, not to mention, the babies growing and developing. There were two litters born approximately 9-12 hours apart, and when it was close to new mom and dad’s picking out their baby, a question was posed in the group: how many puppies are left from the two litters? Steve, the breeder replied, two black females. I knew right then and there one of them was ours. (Quite frankly, this all was killing me.) So a call was made, and we committed to a baby girl. I was instructed to go to the website and look at pink collar and lime green collar. Well LOL I watched the video, and I think within 10 seconds I knew down to my gut the pink collar was ours. Now let the name game begin…

Luna it is. Luna Tuna Ticky Tavi Smith, is her nickname. Here she is sitting on Grace…

Luna is so special, very smart and thank goodness, not a hyper dog. She really took on the energy of Grace and our home. Being a smart girl, she has this edge to her, where she wants to work, train and work even more. She has a bit of confidence over Grace and doesn’t want to be put her in her place. We have learned if we do not challenge her mentally on a daily basis: training, walking with the training and such, she shows us a bit of rebellion. Nothing majorly destructive it is more along the lines of she won’t listen, she paces, she will get ramped up jumping on the back door to crush kill and chase the chipmunks and squirrels. If there is a bunny, all hell breaks loose.

Luna has livened up our home, brings joys to our days, and she has definitely challenged my (her mom) patience. And we have things going on with Grace such as jealousy, sensitivity (she is a very sensitive girl) and disobeying all the things she knows. Such a crazy circus of a household.

I am experiencing (as a mom of dogs) a bit of what other moms go through with their human babies. Sending Luna off to camp (a 19-day residential training program). NEVER ever have done this before! I was a wreck. She did great! Watching the two get along and then jealousy developing. (I guess kids do this.) Watching the two go through phases of playing and not playing.

I know these girls are dogs. However, they are my children, my family, and my responsibility to keep them safe and sound. I do the best I can do with the wisdom that I have and I constantly remind myself, at the end of the day they are dogs. They are my gifts from God.

One great thing is they will never ask for the car keys, need an expensive college education, and need electronics. Whew, I am off the hook as a parent! Woo friggin hoo!

I love my girls, and they teach me so much, another vessel in my life that God has provided.

Peace,

Kim