Jaz Joins Our Family

"What if we swing by Baypath and see what they have for puppies?" Laura asking me this while out running errands is how the story of Jaz began.

I grew up with a black lab named Popeye. You know the story of Roxie.

Dogs will always be a part of my life and Labrador Retrievers will always be my favorite breed of dogs.

Nadia is a lab mix, but looks nothing like a lab. Her size has always thrown me and while I love her, she isn't a lab.

Part of the fun of rescuing dogs is that you never quite know what you are going to get.

I fired up our trusty Petfinder.com and began looking for labs. While I was leaning towards a young dog, Laura insisted on a puppy so that we could insure it was trained properly and to minimize compatibility problems with Nadia.

A trio of labs caught out attention right away and I submitted the lengthy application. Days went by and we didn't hear anything back.

Then, I saw her. This is the adoption photo that made the special connection with me. Her name was Pia.

Look at that nose and those eyes! Laura loved her too and we filled out an application immediately.

The next day I was on the phone with the shelter. A few days later they had called our references. Then the call came that we were waiting for. She was ours if we wanted her.

This is where the adventure portion of Jaz' story begins because she was at the Second Chance Animal Rescue of Martha's Vineyard.

We hadn't told the kids about looking for a new dog because we thought it would be a great surprise. Life being as it is, this wasn't going to be an easy surprise to pull off.

Logistics made it so that we had to wait a week until we could pick her up. All week I was like a kid on Christmas Eve, but I couldn't show it. Laura got a good laugh at me letting her know how many days were left until we had a puppy.

Rescue weekend was a bit crazy. Dylan had a cross country meet that he was leaving for at seven, so we made up a tale of Laura finding a new geocache hotel that she wanted to check out. This allowed us to leave at 6:30 without raising any suspicions.

Emily was on a girl scout camping trip, so we hit the road to catch the 9:30 ferry to the island.

We made great time and arrived just as the 8:30 ferry was boarding so we jumped on board and headed on over.

Never in a million years did I think the first time we'd visit Martha's Vineyard would be to adopt a puppy, but we certainly will never forget it.

Kym from the shelter would pick us up, so with our free time we grabbed coffee and breakfast from the Black Dog Tavern and found a quiet bench to enjoy them on.

Soon we were on our way to the shelter.

We arrived and she went inside to get the two pups. She had a sister named Honeybun who had her potential mom coming to visit that day as well.

The minute I saw her, I bent down and she jumped up and gave me a big kiss. I was hooked.

We were told that her name was an acronym for "Pain In the Ass" since she was so social and when they first got the pups, she immediately escaped from the pen. Plus, she loved to jump in her water bowl and make a mess.

Turns out that she was found in Arkansas living under a trailer. The family didn't want any of the puppies and planned on leaving them outdoors to survive on their own.

A good hearted soul from the rescue proposed that she take the pups and that she'd paid to have their dog spayed. They agreed.

Laura and I played with the pups and ended up catching the noon ferry back. Crazy how fast the morning went and we now had a new family member.

She slept the whole ride home in Laura's lap. I couldn't help but smile as this was the third pup we've adopted who enjoyed this cuddly ride home.

Dylan was shocked when he met her.

The next day when Emily got home she cried with joy asking, "is she ours to keep?"

All the turmoil of making it a surprise was worth it to see their faces.

It is now a week later and she is doing great.

One of the names I had thrown out was Jaz and Laura liked it. Laura decided she wanted to name her Jasmine, but we are calling her Jaz.

Besides some tensions during feeding time, Jaz and Nadia get along fine. They play every day after breakfast and I hope that she'll continue learning from her older sister.

It is obvious that she is mixed with a hound of some sort, but she has yet to howl or bark except when we put her in the crate.

She has slept through the night with only minor whining the first two nights upon turning out the lights.

Jaz loves to cuddle and give kisses. She has already established several favorite sleeping spots in the house.

Thankfully after only doing it a few times, she has stop sleeping on her food mat. :)

I've never owned two dogs and the only problem so far has been figuring out how to walk them at the same time.

I'm eager for her legs to grow bigger and stronger so that we can go on rucks together. Perhaps by this winter?

I can't help wondering how big she is going to grow and if her spots will get any darker like her sister's.

No matter, she is already a part of the Chapman family and we love having her here.

I hope she is ready for a lifetime of adventures, cuddles and love.