Maci

We've had a new addition to our family since my last update. Well, lots has happened since my last post, but I'm going to take it slowly and do it in multiple posts.

As most of you know, we have a dog named Willy, and he's Jon's baby. We have a cat too, which I absolutely love, but I was really wanting my own dog. My dog that I had growing up had died a few years ago, but I still got really sad about it all the time and wanted a dog, not to replace Paige, but so that I could have a buddy again! I started looking online and was certain I wanted a Golden Retriever. I'd always wanted one, and I kept saying that if I didn't get one now, I might never get one. But as I researched, I decided there was no way I'd pay $800 for a dog when I could rescue one for much cheaper. So I found a puppy online from a rescue that I decided I would go look at. I had scheduled to have surgery on both wrists to have some cysts removed, but I figured I'd be fine a few days later, so I contacted the shelter and told them I'd be coming to their adoption event to get the puppy. It turns out that the surgery and recovery was wayyy more painful than I had anticipated and I could hardly do anything that involved using my hands because it hurt so badly. So I didn't end up getting that dog. I waited until my wrists healed a little more, and I kept looking for puppies online. I went back and forth between a few, one of them being a Jack Russell-Border Collie mix. I remember joking to my family that I would be crazy to get a dog that was a combination of two of the most hyper dogs ever. Somehow though, I decided to go look at her. Part of the reason I was so drawn to her was because she looked a lot like Paige. Jon and I went and played with her at the end of September. She was part of a litter of 8, and we were the only ones there to look at any of them. She was so very sweet but really shy. I instantly knew she was the dog I wanted. We had to wait 2 weeks for her to be "quarantined" since she had just been brought from a high-kill shelter in Kentucky and they wanted to make sure she didn't have any illnesses that needed to be treated. I anxiously waited those two weeks, and on October 5, after one of the longest days of work ever, I went to pick her up. I named her Maci. She was about 14 weeks old. I brought her home and realized that she had become way more nervous than the first time I played with her. She wouldn't go to the bathroom outside because she was afraid of every little noise. She slipped out of her collar because it was too big, and when I bent down too quickly to pick her up, she bit me because she was so terrified. She was scared of Willy and Tucker and she wouldn't come near me unless I sat on the floor for about 5 minutes. She was of course scared of Jon. I had mentally prepared myself for a couple weeks since I knew she would cry at night and I wouldn't get much sleep for awhile. I put her in her cage next to my bed the first night, and she didn't make a peep the entire night. She slept next to my bed for the next few months and never cried once. She's still outgrowing her fear of everything. She's gotten so much better though, and can now go for walks calmly and will sometimes even get excited to approach dogs and people, even though once she gets too close she changes her mind. She's exactly what I needed to help me stop feeling sad about Paige. She's my little buddy and I take her with me everywhere I can. Sometimes when Jon works late and ends up falling asleep on the couch, Maci will sleep with me. I love it because it makes it so much easier to wake up in the morning. She gets so happy to wake up and will squirm her way over to me so I can pet her. I know I'm obsessed with her, and I don't care. I am a huge animal person, and I consider her more of a family member than a pet. She's extremely hyper and high strung, but she's also very smart and has been pretty easy to train. I took her running for the first time the other day (we usually go on walks, but never runs because I'm too out of shape!) and she heeled perfectly. I'm excited to see if she will like swimming in the lake this summer.

I don't feel like putting these pictures in order. There's got to be an easier way to put pictures on blogspot!

I made Jon take this picture with his phone. This is the first time we went to meet her. I still couldn't bend my wrists, but I didn't let that stop me from cuddling her!


She loves laying on the window sill and looking out the window. She often falls asleep on top of the couch after she's done checking out things outside.



The first time it snowed, we took her for a walk in the woods. I think this might have been one of her happiest days. She literally ran around nonstop for an hour and was soaking wet by the time we were done.


She's got quite the personality. She can be a brat, but the other day Jon said it perfectly when he said that she's the most sweet, innocent puppy without a mean bone in her body.

She and Willy are best friends. They love each other. Even though she started off being so nervous, she ended up being the dominant one and has no problem taking all his toys and bones from him whenever she wants.

This is when she was about 4 1/2 months old.

I'd forgotten that she was ever this little. This was when she was about 3 1/2 months old. I didn't really notice how much she was growing because I'd see her every day, but I'd always have neighbors telling me how big she was getting.

They love to cuddle with each other. Maci and our cat get along and play also, I just don't have a good picture of them together because Tucker doesn't really prefer to cuddle with her.

She really likes Jon. Whenever he gets upset, even if it's not at her, she acts like he hurt her feelings and she will get very sad. She gets very excited whenever he comes in the door and I say "Daddy's home!"

We've only had Maci for 5 months, but it feels a lot longer. She's the best dog and we love her!