The call was in December 2017- approximately a year after we had started dating. We already knew that we had an extensive future ahead of us and we were excited about living together and starting our lives. There wasn't any certainty about what the future might hold, but we absolutely knew that the forward lens was still shining brightly for us.
We had both been divorced previously and were looking only for something real and meaningful. We knew that love was difficult to earn and easy to burn and as a result we were both a little guarded. It was just us and a small townhouse outside of Atlanta. My divorce left me with two wonderful children, a boy and a girl, and she was without any children of her own. We were both in agreement that if we had the opportunity we would cherish the addition of children into our lives- me for the third time and her for the first. While we were certain that the future included a relationship together, we did not have a timeframe for engagement, marriage, children, or any of the other serious, life-changing decisions.
And there I was at the Atlanta Humane Society, checking out a new litter of four puppies who weren't yet available for adoption. They were amazingly colorful and the staff had gleefully placed them in separate kennels to highlight the differences amongst all four sisters. There was an all-white dog with one brown spot, a mostly white girl with some larger brindle areas, a caramel-colored brindle and a dark brindle in two neighboring kennels with the lights on one side and the darks on the other like they were separating laundry or girls vs boys at a middle school dance. And I made the call to ask if she had ever considered having a pet.
"I've always wanted a dog," she said, "but have never really been around them much." I took pictures and came home hopeful that we could at least merit a discussion on a pet family. She was so excited about the possibility that she took the following day off work from her job at the Bank so that we could be at the Humane Society at exactly noon when they opened. It was truly love at first sight but we had a problem... she couldn't figure out which one of the four sweet girls she wanted to bring home. Since I had experience with dogs at various times in my life I suggested that she think about this decision very carefully since she was essentially choosing her wardrobe for the next dozen years- white fur means no black or dark clothes, and dark fur means no white or lights in your arsenal.
After holding all four it was an easy choice. We chose the white pup with two large brindle spots and we named her Maggie. It was a very difficult transition for both of us and we really didn't know what we were doing. I mean, I had experience with training dogs at multiple stages of my life, but I had never trained a person to train a dog. I made a lot of missteps and we used many of the "tried and true" methods that we have long since abandoned; including kennel training, keeping the dogs out of the bed while you sleep (we now have two beds just to fit all of the dogs), and being militant with the training methods. In later years we would learn there was a more loving and gentle way to treat our new family members because that's what they became- not our animals to rule over like masters, but our true children with their own personalities, characters, needs, and special ways they love.
We started our business to recognize how transformitive owning our rescue animals has been for us both individually and as a recently married couple. And while we still do not have a great looking-glass into our future, we have resolved that whatever we do wlll include helping educate others of the importance of fostering, adopting, and loving all the fur babies in the world. Our family of (currently) four dogs, who are currently supporting me while I write this post by sleeping all around the room in various positions, wouldn't be happier any other way.
Maggie, Bradley Pooper, Ted Mosby (Architect), and Marshall
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