As Dog Moms, This Is One Of The Most Beautiful Things To Witness

We adopted Coco in August of 2012. Sophie joined our family in June of 2014.  Introducing the 2 of them was a little challenging. Coco had been the only child for almost 2 years. Sophie doesn't do too well with pups who are bigger than she is. The transition from "I'm not too sure about you" to being completely inseparable took about 2 weeks.

In late January of 2015, Lobo joined our family. Originally, he entered our home as a foster, but within a few days, Coco and Sophie took him under their wings. It was an instant bond. Two weeks later, we adopted Lobo.

Since then, it's just been the 3 of them. Within that time, Coco and Lobo played together. Nothing too active. Aside from the occasional bout of the zoomies, and despite our best efforts, Coco has never been an active child. And, with Lobo's limited activity because he only has 1 hind leg, limited mobility in his single hind leg, and Lyme Disease symptoms, his activity is short-lived.

But, despite those obstacles, they enjoyed gnawing on their chew bones together and established a hide-and-seek game involving their chew bones.

Sophie joined in once in a while. She's not an active girl.

More often than not, she just observed Coco and Lobo. 

A year ago, when Coco experienced his first minor incident with Stage 1 Luxating Patella, it scared him. They don't forget things like that. Now, he's more cautious about jumping up on the sofa or bed and physical activity. Understandably so.

He's done very well, considering. He takes a daily Glucosamine and we make sure he gets daily exercise. Much improvement, but he's still hesitant. 

On and off, for the past 6 months or so, I've thought about adopting another addition to our family. Sophie is a young senior. Coco is almost there. They're both slowing down.

Lobo has about 123 spurts of sporadic short-term playfulness per day. Coco and Sophie just aren't up to that.

So, I've entertained the thought of Lobo having a sibling that could balance things out a bit. Give him a run for his money. Tire him out.

"Entertained" is the operative word. There were no plans. We weren't even looking.

On March 2nd of this year, that all changed. The Universe shifted. Did a little shimmy shake. Fate stepped in. An urgent situation was brought to our attention.

Willamina joined our family.

From the very first day, there have been obstacles. Willa was in full blown heat. As time went on, we suspected she had food sensitivities and allergies. Then we discovered her vaccinations expired a week after she joined our family. And, the day after her first visit to the doctor, she had to get through a 5 day regimen of Metronidazole for an underlying issue.

On top of that, she'll be scheduled for her spay surgery 8-12 weeks from April 1st and will need to recover.

Despite those obstacles, the transition has gone quite well. Coco, Sophie, and Lobo have accepted her into the family.

She's also very active. Willa and Lobo have started the process of playing and running around together. Lobo isn't the "newbie" any longer so he's teaching her boundaries.

Most afternoons, for the past couple of weeks, while Coco and Sophie curl up together, Lobo and Willa have established their own afternoon routine.

Play. Rest. Play. Rest. 

As Dog Moms, this is one of the most beautiful things to witness.