4 Pounds of Precious Puppy

I've always regarded toes as just something that complete your feet and help you balance when you walk. To the newest member of the family these practical appendages have a new function. As I sit at my computer trying to think and type I can't move my feet fast enough to avoid having my toes licked or chewed.

She is absolutely adorable. I still believe that, even after my poor idea of a good night's sleep (6 hours) was torn to fragments of 20 minutes each. We purchased a book yesterday on raising a puppy in spite of the sales woman's advice that all it takes is common sense. We might have a fair amount of people common sense but we're lacking in puppy common sense. Of course people common sense would have told me it doesn't help if you don't read it. Hopefully we can start on crate training pretty quickly.

By now you must realize the newest member of our family is a puppy. Our 13 year old Brittany died in July. She was mainly my husband Steve's dog. Chloe had been the subject of a few sermon illustrations and almost everyone at church had at least heard of her.

One of the women started a fund to buy Steve a puppy and surprise him with it the Sunday after vacation Bible school. Everything went perfectly much to everyone's surprise since so many people knew about the puppy. Steve did not suspect at all and he immediately fell in love with this 4 pound ball of fluff. She's 1/4 king cavalier spaniel and 3/4 bichon frise. She was born 6/15.

I tend to have a low tolerance for 2 things in dog people and members of my family know it. I have never used baby talk with my own children and I'm not about to start with any puppy. I refuse to be called a mother to anyone except my 4 children and their spouses. I enjoy dogs but since I have never been capable of giving birth to a puppy please don't call me a mommy of even the most adorable canine. I do admit there are similarities. Still don't call me Mommy to a dog. I will enjoy my role as one of Marlee's owners and treasure her as one of God's valuable creatures.

Steve named her Marlee Grace. We have a friend whose granddaughter has this name and we have a granddaughter named Grace. It also seems appropriate to name her Grace because this unexpected blessing is one more sign of God's grace in our lives. Marlee may be appropriate because it reminds us that Marlee is not like the huge clumsy Marley from the movie who leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes. I had better study well the book we bought in order to avoid perhaps a smaller path of destruction which any creature including people can create.

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