Shelby is back!

As a refresher on the whole dog thing - the move into Manhattan after having a baby with both of us working made for a hard adjustment for the dogs. We felt very overwhelmed and like we weren't giving them the live they needed. We also felt that they were quite stressed out in our extremely small apartment. They also seemed very anxious and stressed when we were out on walks (our neighborhood is more mellow than some but still considerably busier than our old Chicago neighborhood). After serious deliberation we decided that they would be better living at Dan and Marietta's house back in Illinois until we were moved into a larger apartment.

Even back then we considered keeping just Shelby, as she is the much smaller dog and requires shorter time periods of exercise we thought she would adapt the best. But we didn't want to separate them as they had always been best buds and would get stressed when apart.

January of 2013 Dan drove them out there and we missed them a ton but were happy knowing they had a huge house and yard to roam around and lots of walks.

July of 2013 we did our midwest tour and decided that we were at a point where we could bring Shelby back. We still couldn't have both dogs and Eddie was loving the semi-country life. It took us an entire year before the trip to get Shelby happened. It was just never a good time - there was either a baby on the way or something. But July of 2014, Dan met his dad halfway to bring our beagle back home.

Well, I knew that Jaime was going to be excited about having a dog. He has loved dogs since he was a baby - they are a favorite. But I couldn't have even imagined his reaction. It was beyond anything. He most excited I have ever seen a person be about anything. Pure joy. And when he got to hold the leash to walk her - he was so happy.

Shelby was happy to be in the city. She was pretty upset with us for sending her away, this I know and feel terrible about. She was living with family in a familiar environment but still, we did send them away and that clearly hurt her. But little by little we repaired the relationship and she found her way into being part of our daily family life again.

It was an adjustment for all of us. While she had lived with us for eleven years, it was a more simple routine before kids. That and while Jaime loooooooved having Shelby there that meant there was a lot of monitoring - he doesn't always get the whole personal space thing. But Shelby could take a flying toy to the rump like a champ, which I didn't think she would be able to tolerate. She was cautious with the kids, which is fair as she was a senior citizen and those flying toys hurt. But she also quickly cared for them and give them allowances that she wouldn't have for just anyone.

So, here we are a family of four plus one dog. The morning and evening routines became quite jam packed but you do what you gotta do.