We got a dog!
A puppy, to be exact.
After much work done by the Stoleberg's (who got the female sibling to our pup), and the servitude of some dear volunteers (who would certainly not describe themselves as dog people), our 11 week Boxer-Shepherd mix flew from FL to Haiti.
And he is adored!
Rose, with some hesitancy, and a few shrill shrieks when the puppy gets too playful…
Natalie will some assertive parenting and caregiving…
...and Elijah,
with gentleness and delight.
The first day we had a family meeting for the important naming ceremony of the dog.
I wanted something meaningful, like some beautiful word in French or Greek. Kirk wanted a one-syllable name that would be easy to call from the door. Natalie wanted "Tori" (her primary pre-school teacher here at Children of the Promise), Rose just wanted to be in whatever action was taking place in the naming ceremony, and Noah and Elijah jostled around Froto and Jack, finally settling on Jack because "Captain Jack Sparrow" seemed a fitting name for a dog in the Carribean. We'll try to stick with Jack, for short.
The purpose of the dog(s) is to act as both as a family pet, and an additional guard dog for our compound. So far he shows very little capacity for viscousness as the only thing he has chased is a mother hen who was hunting and pecking with her chicks in the shrubs around our yard. Needless to say, Jack got schooled.
But "purpose" aside, I love having this little pup in the house because of what it brings out in each of my kids. While this will come to no surprise to those who love dogs, I really enjoy seeing new parts of the kids' personalities mature.
Rose is getting past hesitancy to bravely pet and command the dog. She will stop her play to lay her cheek level with Jack's snoot and gently pet the top of his head. She feels so grown up and loving and gives me a play by play of her actions and Jack's reactions.
Rose is getting past hesitancy to bravely pet and command the dog. She will stop her play to lay her cheek level with Jack's snoot and gently pet the top of his head. She feels so grown up and loving and gives me a play by play of her actions and Jack's reactions.
Natalie is taking new ownership for caregiving with Jack. She asks to take him for multiple walks a day and wants him to stay with her while she plays. I think she likes the feeling of companionship and protection.
Elijah gets annoyed by having to pitch in when Jack doesn't cooperate, but his heart swells with greater loving for this animal and he simply cannot get past all the puppy cuteness in that one little package.
Noah, is rising to the occasion of being responsible for the dog. He takes time to pet and talk to him, and feels critical of anyone whom he perceives as mistreating Jack.
While there are some annoying parts to caregiving, let's just leave this blog post being cute.
Welcome to the family, Jack.
Thank you so much for sharing this one. I have fun when I saw your images because I like to see them enjoying with their pets. I hope you will share more information here. Keep on sharing!
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