the dog. the myth. the legend.

First things first. He may have encouraged me to start blogging again, but dental student is not the the man behind the screen. Most of these posts will be directly from law student, and will contain the hint of sarcasm that only a jaded law student can convey in a blog, and that she previously did in her last blog. So stop worrying, people!

Second, many of you asked about the cool picture we used of Havi and her roomie Chloe the Chihuahua in yesterdays post. A took the photo using a Hipstamatic. This seems to be one of those crazy iPhone apps the kids are using these days. I, for one, cannot be persuaded over to Team iPhone. Im up for convincing (leave it in the comments) but I'm in love with my real-time BlackBerry Messenger. Call me old school, but I'm $300 richer than the rest of you.

Lastly, the story behind Havi. Okay, I'll lay it out for you right now, I didn't want a dog. Like, not even when I was little. In my house the closest we came to a pet was a Betta fish (which my brother subsequently put in a tank with another Betta, and well - you research what happened). I just didn't want the responsibility. I know, if you know me - that seems unlikely. But, to care for another living being seemed like a commitment I was NOT willing to take on. When I met dental student, whose family had rescued dogs their whole life, I warmed up to the idea of a dog. But, that seemed far off in the future. We pulled the graduate student excuse "not enough time and/or money" and moved on. One day, we received a call from my mom that she was going next door, where our neighbors were fostering a dog (more about fostering later) and she may want to adopt it! Later, after my mom decided that dog wasn't right for her (but she did get an adorable pup-we'll write about Musehy D'Brickashaw Silverman later), so I asked for a picture. Well, I got this:

Okay, I'm not crazy I swear. But I knew, I just KNEW. I needed to help this dog, we needed to get her. After staying up late one night crunching numbers and time with dental student we made the trek out to Long Island to meet her. I was right, she was ours, she needed to be with us. Havi (who was then named Baby) was a stray on the streets of Georgia before Animal Control picked her up around 8 months old and then turned her over to the Humane Society, when Second Chance Rescue of Queens (more about them later) pulled her and fostered her over to my neighbors. This beautiful, 45 pound, black and white terrier/lab (and probably a million other breeds) girl would NOT stop kissing us. Later, when we discussed the money and time my mother told us "for everything in life there is an excuse not to do or get something, but if you believe you can do it - it will all fall into place." She came home with us three days later.

There was so much I did not know about dogs. It was evident our first few days with her. I even got scared that one day she'd attack me (didn't you know thats what pit bulls do? NOT TRUE: I'l dispell those myths another time). Over the first three days of having her she had real bad diahrrea, real bad. But her demeanor never changed! She was as happy as she is today. From streets, to shelters, to multiple fosters, and now very sick - this girl couldn't be happier. I sigh when I think how much humans have to learn from pups. On the third day of this diahrrea I lost it, crying, in my pajamas, I picked up my 45 pound dog and walked two avenues to the vet. As I walked into the office of the vet whom we had never met, I knew it - I was a mom.

Havi has taught us so much - about rescues, about pit bulls, about rolling around on the carpet in the sun. Some days its impossible, and we still haven't solved this tummy problem (and the HUGE expense that came with it) but I don't regret that wagging tail for a second.

Don't read this and think that you can't do it; your space is too small, you don't have enough money, or enough time. Stick around some more and you'll see those are all just excuses. After all whose busier than us? Didn't you know - were grad students ;).

threepeasinapod