Unexpected

I think I have mentioned here that about three weeks ago, we had to put down our special dog, Chelsea.  We adored her and she was our "before kids" dog.  She truly changed our lives.  Our breeder wanted us to show and before we knew it, we were doing dog shows, trying hunt test work (and you will never meet two people less likely to fire a gun), doing competitive obedience and mostly just spending lots of time outside with our wonderful dog (which became dogs).  We got another, Lucie, and we even fostered River, a lovely liver roan boy, for almost two years.  River found a new home a month ago and then, our beloved Chelsea had to be put down at almost 14 due to what looked a lot like a stroke.

It only took us a couple of days to decide that we needed another dog but we didn't know how we were going to do it.  We knew we wanted another purebred Brittany (and the whole purebred vs. shelter dog/rescue is a conversation for another day - we would love a shelter dog down the road but we want to compete and possibly even breed down the road so we need a purebred puppy).  We knew we were looking at a lot more money than we could spend, a long time on a waiting list, an exhaustive search for the "right" breeding (never knowing for sure that we were making the correct decision) and then, the cost of getting the puppy (which would almost certainly have to come from the U.S. which would involve passports and travel expenses).  We decided that we wouldn't rush into anything and despite Dh's determination that we needed to start looking for a puppy NOW (he, who was so opposed to a puppy in the past), I tried and tried not to get swept up into puppy frenzy and to be level headed and responsible.  We are teachers, there is a threat of a strike down the road and we can't spend money right now.

Then, literally out of the blue, a puppy seems to have landed in our laps - a better pedigree than I would have ever thought we could get (breeders tend to keep their best stuff themselves and as people who wouldn't promise to show in the U.S., we didn't think we'd have a chance), the shipping is taken care of because a friend is going to get her puppy and wants to bring it back for us, a breeder who is excited to sell us the puppy and she is LOVELY! I am trying not to get overexcited until the puppy is actually here but we can't help but feel like God meant this to happen, because so many things have lined up in ways that we could never have anticipated.

Cross your fingers for us!  This is a dream for us and our family could use something like this right now.  I'll post pictures when she arrives, in about 4 weeks :-)