The break down of (my) resistance...

A month or so ago, I checked out the Galgos del Sol (GDS) website and perused the available dogs.  I've done this before, always just window shopping.  When Sighthound Underground (SHUG) posted an album on Facebook of dogs arriving in the upcoming months, one caught my eye...

We have been debating a getting a second dog for a few months.  Partially because Phil is a completely different dog when there is a 2nd dog around and partially because I really wanted a 2nd dog, but mostly because Phil seems like a much happier, less mopey, depressed dog, when there are other dogs staying with us.

We've waited because dollas (the groups that I planned to adopt from were $250-750) and my preferences were very limiting.  Additionally, fostering is a little more of an issue when there are already 2 dogs permanently residing at Teh House.  I've always claimed that this is a 2 dog max residence.

I have/had very particular things that I wanted in the 2nd dog.  They were:
-Female, I already Philbo, and he's man enough for both of us, without his balls.
-Little, Phil is 80lbs, he's my big boy, we don't need competition.  Teh Bear also stated that he wanted a whippet (he also said he wanted a whippet to name it Devo), so I agreed to his size preferences (not his preference for breed based on a name), which wasn't hard since they aligned with my own.  Heh.
-Black, because well, Phil is mostly white and who wants to be able to wear any clothes without showing dog hair?
-Preferrably wire/long hair, but this wasn't set in stone.
-Rescue, duh.
-Sighthound.  Honestly, all the fosters that I've had have very much spoiled me.  There is something different about the personality of a sighthound from the personality of a husky or a lab or even Zeplen my dalmatian.  I can't really explain it.
-Young-ish.  This wasn't my requirement but kinda Teh Bear's and it wasn't so much a requirement, but a preference.  We had seen several black, wire-haired galgos come through SHUG and when I showed Teh Bear his first question/response was "How old is she?"  He was much more reserved when I told him those dogs were older than Phil, so I assessed to be of some importance to him.

Originally I strongly considered a galgo from Spain since they are definitely a rescue, I know they come in wire, black hair, but I also realized that there were other rescue pups available that would meet my criteria if I wasn't breed selective, Pharaoh hounds, Salukis, Borzoi, Ibizans, Podencos.....

Well, I was right.

Meet Sam, short for Samwise Gamgee (which will probably be her name, unless it doesn't "fit", and then we will find something else LOTR based to go with Philbo Baggins, of course):

She is a Podenco rescue from Spain.  Her story from her GDS page: "Cadbury [their name for her] and her eight siblings were living rough in the campo with mum Paqui. It took several weeks to catch them but a kind woman fed and checked on them daily until they could be taken in by GDS."  Paqui is a medium sized, so I'm guessing that Sam will be as well, but its really a toss up since we have no idea the breed of the father (but my feeling based on the situation in Spain would be another similar sighthound breed).

She is supposed to arrive mid-March.  She isn't black, but she is dark colored, wire haired, and she will most likely be under 50 lbs.  She will be 6 months old when she arrives in America.  I'm struggling to contain my excitement.  I want it to be March already, which means skipping my birthday month, which is a big deal, Gentle Readers.

Phil's reaction?

Phil is already on the lookout.

I'm a crazy dog lady.  Which was probably easily recognized by the fact that Phil has his own blog.  But, I "talked to" Phil about getting a 2nd dog.  

After Ruthie left, he was depressed and pouty, and I was starting to feel like maybe I didn't get the sign that she had picked her forever home.  The truth was, she didn't meet my criteria, so I held strong and she got adopted.  Even I missed her though.  But then came Mary and Olive has had several slumber parties with us and Phil has adjusted to being the only pup again, but I can tell he's mopey whenever Olive goes back home.  He perks up a bit when we go on walks with Teh Greyhound Neighbor and Olive.  

I told him that we were going to look for a sister for him.  I told him what the requirements were.  I told him we weren't in a hurry to find a 2nd dog and that I loved him the mostest of all the dogs ever, even more than ZepZep, which might have been a bit of a lie, but probably not because Zeplen broke the contract and died on me.  Phil knows he's not my heart dog, but he also knows that I love him and I don't judge him for his bad breath.  Honestly, there's something about that stank breath that is comforting, don't judge me.

When the photo of Sam was posted, it was like the stars had aligned.  Yes, the dollars are going to be tight, but we'll be getting a new puppy.  Yes, we are getting a puppy.  Zomy.  A puppy.  I've not had to deal with that since Zeplen (who I got at 8 weeks).

/SQUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE  

A puppy!!!!!!!!!