Then Came Luna

When Satchel was about 9 years old, I realized he was no longer a puppy.  Many large breed dogs live to be about 10 or 12 or so.  Satchel is a Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever - considered a large breed dog!  When did he stop being a puppy?  I completely missed that!

I started reading some things on-line and in books that getting a younger dog can enhance and lengthen the life of your older dog.  I didn't mention it to Jason at first.  I was still processing the idea that Our Beloved Satchel was a 'Senior' dog!

Playing with Satchel in the living room one night, Jason said, "Pal, Jim (a friend of ours)'s daughter has this dog..."

I cut him off.  "What dog?  We need another dog!"  I told him what I had recently read and he told me about this 10-month-old Black Lab Jim's daughter was having trouble fitting into her family.

Just like with Satchel, I knew she was ours.  Hadn't met her.  Knew she was ours.  Sometimes impulsive acts are mistakes.  I was attached already.  Crazy.

Jason talked about how he met the dog and she was really cute and fun and Jim thought the dog was great too.

I called Jim's daughter.  She told me they'd adopted 'Jordyn' as a puppy.  She and her husband had lived with Labs their entire lives and there was something just 'off' about this one.  Jordyn wouldn't come when you called her.  She would just race around the yard and eat up the landscaping.  She could get out of the house somehow, and while babysitting, even Jim had woken up to find a doorwall open with Jordyn just hanging out around the house, so she had to spend a lot of time in her crate.  There was too much hair and their 2 young children might have allergy issues...it just wasn't working out.  As much as they wanted to love Jordyn, it was becoming too stressful to keep her.  Jason was ready for another dog.  I said we'd take her!

Jim's daughter and husband were going to drop Jordyn off at our house the following weekend.  I was so excited!  I was telling everyone we were getting a puppy!  I was preparing Satchel that life would be different AND more fun!

Jim's daughter and husband changed their minds.  I was devastated.  I felt like they had MY dog.  She was OURS and she needed to be with US.  Remember, I'd never even met her.  God can save you from your impulses.  How could I doubt Him?  As I was struggling with God's plan, Jim saw me and my heartbreak.  Jim talked to his daughter and my 10-month-old Black Lab was finally coming to live with me.  She would arrive the NEXT weekend.  For sure.

When they dropped Jordyn off, you could feel their sadness.  Jim was very helpful and we appreciated his support, trust and intervention.  Our Pack was complete!  Jordyn came with toys and a toy bin and bowls and a crate.  Within minutes she was laying with Satchel and chewing on our favorite dog toy - a plastic bottle.  Within days she was able to be trusted out of the crate (she DID unravel a section of a really really expensive wool rug - DANG it!) and she was Ours.  The only problem we had was that 'Jordyn' wasn't her name.  It fit with her first family, but not with us somehow.  It sounds so kooky, I know, but I feel like she told me her name was Luna.  I felt like she came that way.  She was 'Luna.'

Since then Luna has showed us that all she needed to be her ultimate self was to walk everyday, have a good job, and live with us.  There's nothing 'off' about her.  She's always 'on,' ready for whatever the day will bring.  She's so perfect and fun and loving and sweet that every day with her is a good day.  She makes everyone feel special and important, but we are the luckiest because we get to experience her specialness every second.  I don't know what we've done to deserve the reward of Luna.  She is truly a gift and you can feel a new level of happiness every time she wags her tail.

Though she's considered a Large Breed Dog as well, she seems little next to tall Satchel.  We sometimes call her our Peanut.  She's also the Perfect Peanut, Looney Toon, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Lunatic, Luna-tuna, Swiss Miss, Petunia.  She comes to just about any name!  She loves to walk in the woods at The Sleeping Bear Dunes and fetch an orange floaty toy in Lake Michigan for hours.  When it's too icy or rainy to walk outside, she loves the treadmill.  She's so dark that we have to be very careful walking around the house at night.  She's a very underfoot puppy!  Her favorite game after Keep Away is Hide and Seek and we can't remember what life was like before March 2, 2003.  It's as if she's always been in our Pack.