Meet Molly

Meet the newest member of the Humpherys family - Molly.

I still can't quite believe that we actually have a dog. If you know me, you know that I have never been much of a dog person. Not that I hate dogs or am allergic to them -- I just have never felt like I could handle a dog along with 4 kids.

Of course, the kids have been begging us for years to get a dog (or another pet). We have resisted, until this opportunity came up this weekend. Here's how it happened.

I just got assigned to visit teach a sister who lives alone in a small house and has many health problems (breast cancer, arthritis, problems with her leg, etc.). She is not overly enthusiastic about the church, but has let me come a couple of times to help her out. On Saturday, I went over to help her and happened to have the 3 girls with me (just after gymnastics/dance class).

The girls noticed the dog in the small back yard and asked if they could go out there. She said the dog was very friendly (the dog didn't bark at us once) and the girls had a great time with Molly. They couldn't stop talking about her. Then the sister mentioned to me that she really needed to find another home for Molly -- it was just too hard for her to take care of the dog. Apparently, it was the dog who knocked her off balance and caused her to fall and hurt her leg. She is down in bed much of the time and just couldn't give the dog what it needed.

I told her I would ask around and had the thought in the back of my head, "maybe this is the right time and the right dog for us to take." I think I seriously surprised myself by thinking this! I have really thought we would never get a dog. But there were just so many factors that seemed to fit -- besides the obvious help it would give to this sister (and get the dog in a situation where it got more attention), the dog seemed good with kids and my girls loved her, it was already an outside dog (I really didn't want a small, indoor dog), our new house here already has a fenced dog run with a smaller dog house (we might have to work on that), we have lots of room and the I knew the kids would be thrilled.

So, I talked to Brian and my sister Amy (who is the family dog expert) and we decided we'd take in Molly. We figured if for some reason it just didn't work out, we would at least be a "temporary" new home for her and be responsible for finding something more permanent.

Here's what we know about Molly (not much, since the previous owner only had her about 3 months -- one of her nurses gave her Molly because she thought she needed a dog). Molly is some kind of Springer Spaniel -- she doesn't look quite like the pictures I looked up of English Springer Spaniels, but I'm guessing she's some kind of mix? Anybody have any clues from the pictures?

She doesn't have much of a tail and some fairly curly hair in the back.

Brian noticed that her toenails are really long and in need of clipping. We were told she has been spayed and had her shots. I know a trip to the vet (and probably a grooming trip) are in order as soon as possible to get her checked out and cleaned up. Plus, I'm sure we will be spending money on lots of dog "stuff" for her! One of the first things we need to get is one of the retractable leashes (instead of the chain one we were given), so she can have a little more freedom in roaming around.

We picked her up this morning before Conference and brought her home in the back of the van. Of course, today is a rainy day so the kids can't be out with her much.

The kids, as we expected, are esctatic. They are sad though that for now we are keeping her an outside dog. They are already fighting over who gets to feed her and walk her (we'll see how long that lasts!). I hope she will be a good dog and we can all learn how to be good dog owners. Right now I'm feeling pretty clueless! But we're glad to have her in our family!