Three is currently a crowd......

Let's just start off by saying that I was not raised with dogs. Surprising, I know.

When I was younger, we had 2 cats, a hamster (that I'd rather not talk about), a turtle, and 2 sugargliders. It wasn't until I was 15 that I finally talked my mom into getting a puppy.

Now, 8 years later, my 2 girls (Cayley and Luna) are my life. If I could convince Will that being a stay at home poodle mom was a good idea, it's for sure what I'd be doing. My desk at work is full of pictures of my girls, and my clients usually think I have 2-legged instead of 4-legged babies! I've had Cayley since she was a puppy...about 3 months old, and Luna came to us when she was 1 year and 1 month old. The girls are only 6 months apart, so they have become very close, yet are sooooo different.

On January 10, 2013, I saw a Facebook post from a local Facebook group called "Pets around Midland" with a precious picture of a 5 year old red heeler that needed a home, or else would be put down. Will had a blue heeler, Tex, when we first got together, who shortly after had to be put down. He was Will's world, it was probably one of the hardest decisions we've had to make. Ever since, no heeler was good enough to be part of our home. I thought to myself, "Although he isn't a blue heeler, maybe Will would go for it." and sure enough, I was right.

After meeting this sweet 5 year old red heeler, there was no turning back. Riggs is now a Payne family member, regardless of how he feels about it. The first few nights were a little rough.... Riggs didn't understand that he was "home" now and sat by the front door all the time. Finally, he realized that we loved him as if he had been with us his whole life, and gave in to our hugs and kisses. As I lay in bed, typing this post, he's sitting on the edge of the bed making sure to have a clear view of me. He loves us so much now, I can just see it in his eyes and the way he lays himself on me. I often wake up to find him laying inbetween myself and Will, with his arms around one of us.

Riggs is my first "big dog" and it's still an adjustment. Not only for me, but for my girls. Cayley is clearly the alpha dog, and this has been established since day one. Luna came in to our home and knew that Cayley was alpha. Riggs, however, is having a hard time being accepted in the group. Even though dogs have no sense of size, my girls can definitely tell that Riggs is not a poodle. He also is having a hard time understanding that his slow walk is the equivalent to their run.

Luna and Riggs are currently trying to figure out who is "second in command". I'm sure that isn't the right term, but I'm not sure what else to call it. They have their good days, but definitely have their bad ones as well. Luna has "middle child syndrome" that's for sure.

Enough of my rambling, here's our newest member's sweet face!

 

Happy Monday y'all! :)