And Then There Were Four

Presenting one of those creepy, weird family photos of a couple and their dogs. At least the dogs aren't wearing clothes.

Zack and I have debated for a while about whether or not we wanted to get another dog. Maxwell has been such a good dog for us. We weren't sure if we were asking for trouble by introducing someone else into our totally functional one-dog family. We kept going back and forth. Would Maxwell get jealous? Would they become best friends? Would it change his behavior? Would he help with her behavior? Would he become more aggressive? Would he get more exercise? Would the new dog chew on our furniture or our shoes? We've been pretty lucky having a dog that only prefers chewing paper, plastic, and small stuffed cows. Why would we want to jeapardize our perfectly happy one-doggy home?

Why, indeed.

Maybe we got bored with how well things were going. Maybe we missed the sound of tiny paws going pitter-patter on the kitchen floor. Maybe we're gluttons for punishment. Maxwell hasn't been causing us any problems for the past year and a half, perhaps we should drop a potentially huge bomb on him and change his idealic puppy-pampered world forever. Or maybe we just wanted to take care of another living something, since our future kids seem to be on their own eternal schedule instead of our mighty earthly one.

Whatever the reason was, we did it. We got another puppy.

I was kind of on the fence about the decision, even after we paid for her, even after they called and said she would be arriving the next day (we got her from Pennsylvania, the same place we got Maxwell), even as we were driving to the airport. But as soon as I saw her, I knew we'd made the right decision. Here's my first view of her after Zack picked her up from the Continental baggage claim at terminal 1.

She's so tiny!

I don't have a lot to say about little McKay (It was the cutest girl-sounding name among the prophets and apostles. "Uchtdorf" just didn't have the right zing...). All I can say is that she's exceeded all of our expectations so far. After three days she was peeing on command. And as of this afternoon she's going to the door to let us know she needs to go outside to poop. Yes, she's a miracle dog. She likes Maxwell, she doesn't whine at night (as long as she can see us), she stays when we tell her to stay, and she lays down like a bunny just like Maxwell does.

Maybe it's because we're a lot better at being puppy parents the second time around. Maybe it's because Maxwell is a good influence on her. Or maybe it's because she's just a good puppy.

One day after we got her, we took her up to the cabin. While there, we tested out her leaping capabilities. She did quite well.

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