Good golly Miss Molly!

I've lived in Boston for almost 8 years now, and I've been longing to have a dog as a pet... for almost 8 years.  When I first moved, I lived in apartments with roommates, so that wouldn't work, and then Brian and I lived with his sister in her condo, which wouldn't work, and then we moved into our own little one bedroom apartment, and while that COULD have worked, it wouldn't have been fair to have a dog cooped up in a tiny apartment all day while we both worked.  

After we got engaged and started actively looking for a house to buy, in my mind a house equaled adopting a dog, so once we actually bought our house, the countdown was ON.  I knew we had to wait a bit, considering we were getting married, going on a honeymoon, moving into a new place and then traveling home to Texas for the holidays, and we knew we wanted to rescue a dog, so I wanted to be able to know that we would be home for a good period of time so we could all get used to being a family. 

Well, one day last week, I woke up and decided that it was time... and I spent the next four days convincing Brian that it was time.  We went through every possible pro and con, and at the end of the day, it came down to A) having a good, safe, happy home with plenty of space and snuggles to give a rescue dog, and B) I had waited patiently for a VERY long time.  When I first really started looking in late November, I found the sweetest adult female on the Boston MSPCA website-- they had her dressed with a scarf around her neck and reindeer antlers on for the holidays, and she just looked so sweet.  I could not get her out of my mind-- through the holidays and our trip home to Texas, I couldn't stop thinking about her.  I went back and looked early last week and sure enough, our girl was still there.  Brian gave the final OK on Friday morning, and by lunchtime I was out buying the necessities to bring our sweet pup home the next day-- a nap mat for the kitchen, a bed for the living room, squeaker toys, chew toys, a collar and a leash, treats, shampoo, a special towel just for her... we were going to bring our girl home!

Saturday was seriously like Christmas morning.  I was wide awake at 5am and stayed in bed for a bit to finish a book ("Left Neglected" by Lisa Genova, also the author of "Still Alice"-- equally fantastic and intriguing!) then got up and got dressed for the gym.  A decent amount of snow had fallen overnight, so I crawled through the streets in the car to get my workout on, made my way to Trader Joe's for essentials, then headed home to shower, get Brian, and get into Boston!  Now, call me crazy, but I knew that I would struggle with seeing dogs at the shelter-- even though we were going to adopt one of them, I knew that so many others would still be left behind.  Let's just say that I know myself well, because the minute we walked into the room, I started crying.  Some dogs were hyper and happy, and others just looked so sad.  Brian had to keep telling me that they were all safe and well cared for, and it helped that several volunteers were there making the rounds to pay attention to each and every animal, but it still tugged at my heartstrings, and I swear I was singing Sarah MacLachlan songs in my head.  

We made our way around to the other side of the room and there, curled up on a blanket, was our girl... and I cried again.  We were able to talk to her through the cage and fed her a few pieces of kibble and I looked at Brian, tears streaming down my face, and told him to find someone so we could get her out of there immediately.  We filled out preliminary paperwork and as they brought her out of the back on her leash, it was like we were seeing a different dog-- she was so happy and jumping everywhere and wanted to just say hi to everyone.  We were able to take her outside for a walk to get a feel for her personality and she seemed pretty timid at first, until we came to a fenced-in area where the dogs are taken to play safely off of their leash.  Remember, it had snowed the night before, so there were probably 4-ish inches of snow on the ground.  The minute we let her off of her leash, she took off bounding through the snow, sticking her entire snout into little piles of snow and snorting, throwing her ball in the air and shaking it around, weaving in and out of the trees-- to say she loved it is an understatement.  We were dying laughing at her and in that moment we knew that she was ours.  

We went back inside and I pulled out everything that they had told me would be needed to OK an adoption (proof of identity, home ownership, etc.) and they approved us on the spot!  They gave us her medical and past owner history to look over, and she was basically brought in because her owner had passed away, so we think that she was very well taken care of and loved, which is wonderful to hear.  A worker went over all of the information we'd need, we wrote the adoption fee check, and she was ours!  We laid out sheets in the back of the car and I sat with her, and once we got on the highway, she had inched into my lap and had her head tucked under my chin and went to sleep.  I cried again, and could not have possibly been any happier in that moment, both for our growing little family, and by knowing how happy, safe, and loved we made her feel by taking her to her forever home.

So, without further ado, meet Molly King!

Age: 4.2 years 

Weight: 82 pounds; girlfriend needs to lose a bit of weight, per the veterinarian's orders

Likes: Squeaky toys, tennis balls, snuggles, her red Kong tug-toy, the snow

Dislikes: Loud noises, strangers, other dogs (working on those last two)

Daily Behaviors: lots of naps, neighborhood walks, protecting her humans, pulling the sheet off of her spot on the couch so she can directly lay on the couch fabric (also working on that)

Personality: Molly likes to be as close as physically possible to us at all times.  Thinking she's a lap dog, all 82 pounds has found itself laying on top of us, climbing on us, or stretching out to be with us.  If she's next to you, she'll stretch a paw out to touch your leg.  If you're sitting on the floor, she's going to hug you (see the pic above).  She has an incredibly sweet demeanor and we are just thrilled with having her as a part of our family!

Today is the first day that Molly has been home by herself for a full day, so I'm out of here at 1:30pm to work from home for the rest of the afternoon.  I swear I had separation anxiety when I left her this morning!  I just don't want her to think that we aren't coming back-- maybe that just takes time?  I can't wait to get home to her, and with this insane snowstorm heading towards Boston, it looks like Brian and I will both have the next few days to spend at home together.