Harlan Place

When Lane and I met, I had a beautiful, wonderful, amazing dog named Isabelle. She was my great love (until I met Lane, then my heart grew to include him - haha!). But Lane was very resistant. In fact, he tried to get me to give her up… at first. She was a pit bull, and that freaked him out. It freaks everybody out. Not that I blame them - pit bulls get a bad rap. It’s because of those awful, in-human dog fighters (but don’t get me started on that…). Anyway, Isabelle was not what people envision when you hear the words “pit bull”. She was docile… sweet, gentle, timid, affectionate, warm, loving - I could go on forever. Not an aggressive bone in her body. And I loved her. And soon, so did Lane. It was impossible not to. But the day came where we no longer had Isabelle in our lives. We lost our girl. Well actually, we believe she was taken. And we used every possible resource to try to get her back - for many months our lives were consumed with nothing but the search. But she was gone. And I was never the same.

Isabelle made me believe I was a dog person. Maybe when you find the right dog, everyone can be a dog person. But when you choose a breed that’s not the right match for you, you quickly discover whether you are a dog person - or not. And I, apparently, am not. About a year and a half after we lost our girl, Lane was ready for another dog. I wasn’t sure that I was… but I was won over by cute puppy pictures. And there are no puppies cuter than basset hounds. So we took the dive, and got two little bassets - Ellie and Lacie. But after two years of whining, howling, barking, slobbering, and shedding… I realized that I am not, in fact, a dog person. But for those who are true basset hound lovers, these were premium specimen. Ridiculously expensive “throughbreds”, if you will. So although I initially fought my instinct to give them up, I finally realized that it’s incredibly likely that there is a family out there who would adore Ellie and Lacie the way I adored Isabelle. So I found that family, and it was a match made in heaven. And I (praise the Lord) was free.

Then another two years passed. And Lane was ready for another dog. I was not. I did not want slobber, shedding, barking, training - I did not want any of it. But Lane wa soooooo insistent. He just pined for a dog. Had to have one. Apparently, he IS a dog person (who knew?). Why is it that the dad (who is always at work and not around for the doggie feeding, clean-up, walking, training) is always the dog person and the mom (the non-dog-person) always gets stuck with the dog?? That would not, could not be me, (Sam-I-Am)!

But when Joshua’s heart was breaking over leaving our home in PA at Christmas time, and Lane suggested that a dog could heal all little boy wounds, I relented. Begrudgingly.

But if I was going to be stuck with the work (which, let’s not kid ourselves, was absolutely inevitable), I insisted that I get to choose the dog. Maybe dogs weren’t the problem - maybe breed was the problem. And bassets were NOT my breed. Pit bulls were. I know, I know. I can practically hear your gasp. Another pit bull? With children in the house????? Answer? YES! They are amazing dogs!! BUT… we had opted to go the “rescue dog” route, and it is very important to understand that every rescue dog is a risk - no matter the breed. Segway to Jaida.

Jaida was a dream. A sweet little chocolate pit, just like Isabelle had been (well, almost like Isabelle). Fun, energetic, sweet. But the poor baby girl had been rescued from a dog fighter. They subjected her to “training”… to full-on attacks from their adult pits - their massive brutes with 100 lbs of aggression. So so SO sad. I just wanted to take her home and make it all better. So I did. But we have an aggressive dog ourselves - Jack. Crazy little beast. We inherited him when we took my uncle Jon in to live with us. Why - you ask - would we need another dog, if we have Jack? Oh, well… because Jack growls at the kids’ approach, shreds their toys, and even bites (sometimes visciously, often without cause). Now you ask how we could allow him in our home. Good question. But back to Jaida. Poor Jaida was subjected to life with Jack - who barked, growled, and tried to attack. (What Jack Russell Terrier in his right mind would attack a pit bull??? Crazy dog!) Jaida was very patient with him, at first. But a dog can only take so much harassment. So she finally let him have it. Or tried to. We intervened (we should have let her take care of him once and for all, but…). Jack was slowly coaxing Jaida into aggressive mode. And that is not what you want from a pit bull. So although the prospect of Jaida was promising, her history with fighters combined with continued aggression from our own psycho beast was just too much. Worst case scenario would be Jack finding his way into Jaida’s space (or vice versa), and an all-out blood bath ensuing… with one or both of the boys close enough by to be collateral damage. OBVIOUSLY… an unacceptable risk. So although Jack should probably have been the one to go… (don’t ask - it’s not worth getting into), Jaida paid the price. She went back to her foster home, and we were once again without a dog (no, Jack does not count as a dog).

BUT… while she was here, we enjoyed her company. As you can see, the boys loved having her around. Will we get another dog? Time will tell. Not for now. No dog deserves being subjected to Jack. And I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that I think dogs should be rescued (not puppy-milled - forgive me if you disagree), with the fact that my breed of choice is pit pulls, and pits with a history may not always be a great match for a household with little ones. Any rescue dog can be a danger… but if you combine serious jaw strength with a bad background… well, let’s just say a sweet little purebred puppy like my Isabelle would be a faaaaaar safer bet. Plus, I’m not ready for a dog. I never was. We all had a little taste of it, and I think that was enough for now. Let the boys get a little older, wait til we have a fence, til I’m done having babies, maybe… then we’ll talk.

Til then, enjoy the pictures.

JADON STICKING HIS FINGERS IN JAIDA’S MOUTH - YUM

JOSHUA MESMERIZED BY THE TV WHILE JAIDA LOUNGES BY HIS SIDE

JADON ENJOYING THE FACT THAT HE’S ABOUT TO GET IN TROUBLE FOR TEASING (A VERY TOLERANT) JAIDA

COUSINS JAIDA AND GAVIN (”UNCLE” JORDAN’S DOG) PLAYING

JOSHUA AND JAIDA IN A BED OF TOWELS

JOSHUA AND JAIDA SLUMBERING IN A BED OF TOWELS

We had a wonderful Christmas together. Lane was able to take off work for 2 weeks, and we drove home to Elverson and spent Christmas together in our own home. What a refreshing experience it was to be “home”.

Joshua was so excited to be back in Pennsylvania. As soon as we pulled in the driveway he said “See, this is what I was talking about. I was talking about our Pennsylvania home. I don’t want to go back to Georgia ever ever ever!” We moved to Georgia when Joshua was 2 1/2, and never imagined that he would even remember his home in PA this long… let alone have such an incredible attachment to it! It makes us sad that he misses it so much. He often tells us that this house (in GA) is “not our house - it’s somebody else’s”. During our Christmas stay, we tried to avoid talking about going back home to Georgia because it upset him so very much. In the end, we had to promise him we’d get a dog if he would come back to live in Georgia with us (more on that later).

So being home in PA for Christmas was a dream-come-true for Joshua, and a special treat for all of us.

CHRISTMAS MORNING - MAMA, DADDY, JOSHUA, JADON

BUZZ LIGHT YEAR - “TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!”

JADON WITH JOSHUA’S NEW DINOSAUR, “BOBO”