Skip to main content

Porkchop Barksdale Smith

By

 We have always adopted older dogs, preferable senior dogs. There is something special about giving a home to an old dog so they can live out their last few years comfortably. Selfishly, I love that they are house trained, calm, slow, sleepy, snuggly, and just chill, even when they come with some baggage. The kids however, feel very differently. They have asked for years for a puppy. A friend, who they can train and play with and run around with, who has lots of energy. We all agreed that once we got settled here, we would look for a puppy. We thought it was a good idea because Biscuit did best with a friend. When we made a really hard decision to re-home Biscuit (see past blog), the pleas for a puppy grew quite loud. 

We acquiesced. 







We drove out to a farm ran by a lovely family of 8 and met lots of dogs. They not only breed dogs, they sell goat milk products, honey, fruits, and veggies! They are busy. There was one puppy in particular we fell in love with. They wanted to sell him at a discount, apologizing for his strange coloring. Are you kidding me? That was our favorite thing about him! They had no idea their dogs had the blue merle trait, and this puppy was the first to exhibit it. A few visits over a few weeks later and we brought home Porkchop. 


Y'all. This has been SO hard. We have never had a puppy. We are all tired! lol. They are a lot of work. We have fought and argued over who was going to clean up after him, who was going to walk him in the rain, who was going to play with him at 5am, who was going to clean up after he ate stuff he wasn't supposed to and got sick everywhere, who was going to run after him when he got out the door, who was going to check him for ticks....








We have also fought over who gets to snuggle him, who gets to dress him in warm sweaters, who gets to teach him a new trick, who gets to feed him the good treats, who gets to introduce him and walk him around, who gets to buckle him into his seatbelt....



















#TeamSmith has been put through the gauntlet! And we are finally starting to see the other side. The consistency is paying off. The new trainer is giving us lots of good tips. And Porkchop is settling into a routine with us just as much as we are adapting to him. I love this puppy.  And...I will never get another puppy again! We may not go total senior route next time, but a dog a few years older will be a good goal one day. For now, Porkchop Barksdale Smith is a magnificent friend and animal who we all adore. 











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family Weekend at Miss Halls

By
 Cassidy is thriving in her new school. She is in a community that has space and access to intentionally and thoughtfully live out its values.  While a return to on campus living was not in our plans, it has allowed us to be nearby as she dances along the edges of independence.  Matt has a front row seat to daily life at the school, and was chauffering to Savvy's soccer game while I got to be the parent of a day student who is also a resident for the two day event.  Friday night's concert was a mix of choral and instrumental pieces. SO much talent! It's the second time Cass has played Sir Duke in a concert and she seemed very happy with her performance. She knew we were, as evidenced by our cheering 🤗 On Saturday I got to be a student! I went to all of her classes for 20 minutes for a real lesson. I usually interact with her teachers in a social setting; eating meals together, attending events, going to the adult wellness stuff, random hallway conversations. Getting to see
Post a Comment
Read more

Birthdays & Graduation & May fun

By
 May was quite the month in the Team Smith house... I participated in my second MCLA graduation, and Savannah's soccer team played a lot of games. Cassidy had a 14th birthday party complete with mini golfing, ice cream, and sushi. Sunday was mother's day. We spent the day in Manchester eating, shopping, and hiking. Brunch at Ponce was delish! The Northshire Bookstore never disappoints. The baby goats at Hildene were cuter than last year. Cass had several band performances. She did a great job marching in lots of parades. We did an overnight staycation in VT and had the whole place to ourselves! And enjoyed our first outdoor concert of the summer season... There was a supercute plant sale at Matt's work. It's an annual tradition where 9th graders make pottery, grow seedlings and plants, then sell to the community. Oh! I cannot forget, we attended the annual town meeting. If you have ever watched Gilmore Girls and witnessed a Stars Hollow mtg, you have been to our town mt
Post a Comment
Read more

Washington DC

By
Well this was a first! See that picture above? See the last name? Yup, that is my last name. I cannot describe how awestruck it was to walk around the Smithsonian African American Museum, turn a corner, see a photo, read the description, and realize I shared a last name, an uncommon last name, with the person in the image. All. The. Feels. And just days before the Goree Family Reunion?! Stahp it! What in the Wakanda was happening?! I'll tell you what was happening: the ancestors, my ancestors, were telling me to get ready for the reunion to be a healing, joyful experience not to be taken for granted. And it was.  When we confirmed with momma the reunion was really happening, we wasted no time locking down our airfare with a combo of points and red-eye flights for the four of us. These were not direct flights, they were cheap flights! Which meant a layover or two. The layover happened to be in DC. Matt and I have been to DC together, and we've been on our own lots of times. But,
Post a Comment
Read more