We had been ADORING having our sweet Falkor since last August. But he often seemed lonely once school started and the kids couldn't devote as much time to playing.
Every once in a while, Stephen and I would contemplate a second dog, but we felt so blessed that Falkor wasn't making Lucy sick and we didn't want to push it, or ruin a good thing. In January I had gone to Pet Smart and seen a sweet, healthy puppy that Falkor really liked, and I noticed that, like Falkor, she didn't seem to have much dander or a strong smell. But still, some dogs immediately cause Lucy to struggle with breathing so I just walked out of the store and left her there.
I kept thinking about her and wondering if she was still there. I went back the next week and she wasn't, so I figured she had been adopted. Falkor started whining ALL the time while the kids would do school, because he wanted to play so badly. And I was really missing his little puppy self sleeping on me, we had called him my therapy puppy when he could cuddle on my chest. And Lu was just doing so shockingly well with him!
I was kind of bummed that she had been adopted, but still thought maybe I'd like Stephen to take me back and maybe I'd like another puppy to go with Falkor for my Valentine's present. So Stephen took me and was kind of skeptical, and pretty certain we would walk out of the store without getting another dog.
We walked in and almost her entire litter was back, including her!! Stephen saw her and we both got a bit smitten. We loved her personality, and I checked her for dander, still nothing like most dogs. But she looked SO sick!! We found out that she had been gone because her entire litter got Parvo :( So, she still looked incredibly pitiful, had lost a ton of weight, and had gotten mange and fleas while her immune system was weak.
So, naturally, we walked out with her in our arms :)
When we got home we were met with squeals of joy from our kids. We warned them that this was only until we were sure she didn't make anyone sick, but none of our hearts heeded that warning and we all fell in love. Falkor decided he was a momma dog and immediately took to keeping her safe and out of trouble.
Look how skinny and pitiful she is!! But she was still oh-so-cute!!
This was when the issue of her name came up. Falkor is from a fantasty movie/book, so we thought we would stick with that theme. We discussed many girl names and finally settled on Fleur from the Harry Potter books. So, now will all our future dogs have "F" names from fantasy books or movies???
She had to wear a cone A LOT. The was because of her mange and then because of her spaying.
We had a scare, because Lucy would occasionally have small hives on her forearms or need her rescue inhaler, so this was our allergy test. They slept on the same pillow all night in the living room with me. NO Problems!! We were so thankful!! And whatever she was having problems with disappeared.
We got a Wisdom Panel DNA test from Amazon. We had done one with Falkor and it was so exciting to get the results, he came out as mostly Golden retriever, American Bulldog and English bulldog. Here are Fleur's results...
She gained weight swiftly, regained the hair she had lost and just became an overall healthy and happy dog. She's our more dominant and protective of the two, and, honestly, bullies Falkor a bit. But he seems to love her bossing him around.
Love our Fleur and are thankful for her!!
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