Double the trouble, double the fun?

Meet Lily. She is a new addition to our family. Lily is an 8 pound bichon/poodle mix, so that makes her a bichiepoo? A poochon? Adorable? Yes.

We got her from Bichon & Buddies yesterday. It is a great organization that rescues bichons and similar dogs, think hypoallergenic and tries to find homes for them. I had noticed them before but had held off, they are really serious about placing dogs in good permanent homes, but they rarely have dogs available, as Bichons are amazing, and who would ever want to give them up? Lots of people lately it seems. The bad economy has people changing their minds and giving up their pets. I sent my application in on Sunday and an hour and a half later, Jeanine called. She had 6 dogs available...when could I come and see?

Uh....after I tell my husband? Yikes! We had both wanted to do this, but we also both thought that it would take a while for our application to be approved and then we would get on a waitlist. Surprise. So yesterday we went and met the furkids. It was heartbreaking. This was no Larchmont outdoor sunny weekend pet fair. No, this was a shelter with all these animals barking loudly and jumping up to be noticed and taken home. It was so sad, and I could only do it once. I brought the first dog out to meet Mabel, and she was sweet, but too big for us because we need to put her on a plane, and then I had Jeff go back into the den of despair to get the others. We met them all, and some are afraid of people, some don't like dogs, and some like Lily...jumped up onto my lap and was determined to stay there. We went for a group walk in the rain and then hung out for an hour and a half together and it was clear to me that this little girl was determined to go home with us. The funny thing is, we had noticed her months and months before, but then she got adopted. And then she got returned. And when I went in to see the dogs, she was jumping so high to see me, but I didn't think that she was available for adoption as she wasn't mentioned to us. It turns out that was because she is a mix and not pure Bichon, which is fine by us! Those are my two favorite breeds!

The first photo is when we met at the shelter. Mabel looks a little worried, but she wasn't being jealous or aggressive, which we were told was the best we can hope for...the bonding takes time. The second photo is 3 hours later, after baths, food and playtime, they both fell asleep on my lap, which is where they are now...bum to bum, on their way I hope, to becoming best friends.