Iris!!

Some of the best things come when you wait. I have wanted a puppy for a long time now. I wanted a puppy to teach agility and have as a friend. I've asked and asked and asked and asked when finally, mom said, "We will go to a shelter to look into adopting a dog after Farm Show."  I was okay with that, so I started looking at dogs available in shelters. I found one dog. His name was Dino, a Border Collie Labrador Retriever mix.  Right away told mom about him and we started filling out the adoption application for him. I was really hopeful about Dino. Once we finished the application, we sent it in. I emailed the place that he was housed and asked what his story was. They emailed back saying that he was a stray found in Georgia. They also said that they did not receive our application so they sent us a different form we started to fill out the form, but at the bottom, it said,"All animals on the property that the animal will be kept on need to be spayed or neutered." May I just add, I live on a farm?  So, Dino didn't work out. 

About a week later, my mom, sister Ashley, her boyfriend Matt, his mom Deb, and I all went to an open house that Kelly Anderson, the same person who gave me Queen Bee and Queen Polly, my sheep, was hosting. Kelly lives in West Virginia, so we had an early morning start. Once we arrived, we presented her with a gift that was very special to her. Ashley, my mom, and I all worked together to construct a hand knit blanket from animals, sheep and rabbits, that she had given us! We also processed the fiber in the fiber mill! She was thrilled with her gift! After the surprise, we went outside to see some of the animals. Needless to say, I went over to her dogs. She has a breed of dog that are on the conservancy list much like the Leicester Longwool sheep, the Karakachan which originates in Bulgaria. Little did I know, Lily, one of her dogs, was due to have a litter the next week! I was so happy for Kelly! I spent the afternoon talking to her husband, Rick, about how Karakachans would be with agility.  I talked to him for a long time. After my conversation with him, I decided that Karakachans were the breed that I needed to work with. I kept up with Lily on how she was doing and when she was going to have her puppies. 

The following week, Lily had her puppies. She had a litter of six and they are all healthy. I contacted Kelly a few times just checking in on them and every time, she would make sure that I knew that there was a waiting list for these puppies. I wasn't too thrilled to hear that, but I was glad that all of the puppies were going to permanent homes. After two weeks, Christmas came around. Every year, we go on a scavenger hunt for our biggest presents. This year, we did one for mom, then Tyler, Ashley, and finally me. I was a little bit confused when mom sat me down in a chair in front of the computer and started to play a slideshow of all of my animal projects through 4-H. Towards the end, there was a picture of Dexter and it said, "Gone but not forgotten." The next picture was a picture of my favorite puppy out of Lily's litter and it said, "Do you have room for me?" I balled my eyes out! I couldn't believe my eyes! I named her Iris and she will be my puppy! I can't wait to get her on January 31st! It's safe to say that I had the best Christmas ever. 

 I can not wait to meet her! Just look at her face!