Becoming a Forever Home

This is Snickers.  Snickers was the best dog a family could hope for.  I can't even - I cry every time I try to describe him, so all I will say here is that he had the squishiest face and that we loved him very much.*

We got Snickers as a little puppy when I was nine years old.  My memory is that there were three males left to be claimed, and the breeder explained that one was show quality, one was breeding quality, and one was pet quality.  (I'll give you one chance to guess which we picked.)  My whole childhood was wrapped up in Snickers; when he died in September 2008, we were devastated.  However, at that point he had been really sick for a while, so saying goodbye was the kindest thing we could do.

Snickers can never be replaced, but we're finally ready to move on and start again.  That's right - we're getting another lab!

Our application to adopt a rescue lab been approved, and we are over the moon.  We knew we didn't want  a puppy, so the best way to get a grown-up lab was to adopt one; there are so many amazing dogs out there and the idea of them waiting for their forever families breaks my heart.  (Actually, just the phrase "forever home" makes me tear up, but that's because I'm a total pushover when it comes to dogs.)  We submitted our application a few weeks ago, got interviewed by a coordinator who then checked our references and talked to our old vet, and are now going through the process of talking to foster families to find a good match.

These are our paramaters:
- aged 1-2 years
- under 60 lbs
- moderate energy, outgoing, and loving

We really don't care about color as personality is more important, but most of the doggies who have fit the above requirements have been black.  I'm sort of happy about that because it will mean that s/he won't even try to be Snickers, though Snickers was a big boy at 90 pounds so I doubt we'll get confused anyway.  We've got some conversations with a few foster families scheduled for this week and they tell you to bring a collar and leash when you go to meet the dogs in case you fall in love, which means that we might have a new lab by the weekend!

Don't you want one, too?

*Sorry, Mom and Sarah, if you're reading this at work; you're probably crying anyway and I know it's awkward to be messy at your desk.