Have Mercy.

We did it.

(Er, I did it, actually. It's all my fault.)

We went and got us another dog.



If you've been reading for a while, you know that we are big animal lovers. At one point we had five dogs for six years. Two years ago, our beloved Golden Retriever passed away. Our hearts were broken. And then a month or so ago, her companion passed away, and our hearts were broken again. That left us without a "house dog". We do have three Italian greyhounds whom we love dearly, but they spend their days in my husband's office with him (behind our garage, he works from home) and come in to the main house on occasion because they've never been fully potty-trained, if you catch my drift. So they are loved and spoiled, but not the main house dogs.

On Thursday I got on Craigslist.

{Note to self: stay offa there.}

With full-own guilt, I glanced through the pet listings, knowing I shouldn't be on there. There was one listing that jumped out at me. I knew, I just knew, this was it. I sent an email to my husband with the listing, and I even titled my email: "I should NOT get on Craigslist". My husband agreed -- I should NOT get on Craigslist, and although it was tempting we should avoid getting another dog. Hello, we still had three. It's not like we were wanting for canine companionship.

But I could not help feeling as if the house was too empty. Our kitties even have seemed a bit lonely since our Mazi girl passed away. So I cheated and sneaked in an reply email to the Craigslist post. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, right?

Sure enough, they replied back with all sorts of wonderful things to say about this baby. Honestly, she was PERFECT for us, and I knew it. Thankfully, my husband forgave me, even confessed that he had been thinking about her since I sent him the email, and called them immediately.

Mercy came home to live with us Friday night.

She is the BEST dog:

*4 years old
*English Setter mix
*spayed
*housebroken
*quiet
*submissive
*in great health
*fur that feels like mink
*SWEETEST disposition ever
*wants to cuddle and be loved 24/7
*quiet, but a great watchdog

Yes, she came with that awesome name, MERCY. The couple we got her from were actually fostering her for a few weeks. Her owner had to give her up as he just found out he has brain cancer and wasn't sure if he'd be able to care for her. Before that, she was apparently a rescue, so we don't know her full story, but the owner gave her that name because he's a Christian and thought it was fitting for such a sweet rescue dog. Don't you just love her name? And she was FREE. Zero dollars for this beauty. They just wanted to be sure she would go to a good home. After checking out our reference (veterinary clinic) and our assuring them that she would be pampered and the queen of the castle, she was ours.



*Here's Mercy, already settled in on the sofa with Minnie Pearl and Romeo. You can see Harry in the background, sleeping on the side table next to the lamp. Tex was nesting in the other room, otherwise there would have been four doggies on the sofa. And I'm happy to report that Sally, the female cat, has officially finished her "hissing period" and has come around to love Mercy as well. It's unanimous -- the other pets all love her.

I'm more than happy to report as well that I'm her person. Maybe she secretly knows that I'm the one that found her. Who knows. But she has latched on to me. And that makes me all kinds of happy to have a little shadow in the house every day.



She's perfection all wrapped up in canine packaging.