Winston

big news in the Dillon family... we've grown! we fell in love with a pound puppy named Winston and brought him home yesterday.

we have been thinking of adding another dog for quite a while, so when a local furniture store had a free adoption event we couldn't resist.

now, i knew adding another dog would be hard. it meant lots of training, habit correcting, more food, more vet bills, more time, more space, etc. i also knew it would be an adjustment for the whole family, but i had no idea how hard it would be for me to watch daphne during this transition.

now, daphne has been with us for almost three years and we raised her from a very small puppy. needless to say, she is our furry baby. i knew that it would be hard for me to share my heart with another dog. the biggest surprise has been how emotional i have gotten. when winston took daphne's normal spot by the couch i got all teary eyed. watching him take a toy away from her got me all choked up. having her turn away from my affection was the worst. i've already had a crying emotional breakdown and we are on day 2.

daphne has never been an agressive dog and has always been shy/timid, but when we're at home alone with her the personality comes out. she is fun loving and playful and sweet. with winston here, she's been much more reserved and i miss my sweet girl. they say you're supposed to let the dogs work out their relationship and not choose the "dominant" dog, but i so badly want to jump to daphne's defense. i want to give the toy's back to her, kick winston out of "her" spot, and make him respect her. mostly because she's had the place of honor in our house for so long.

i'm hoping that this is just transitional, but am fearful that i will lose some of my favorite daphne-isms.

only time will tell...