The Adventures of Raising Hensley: Our family just grew by.....FOUR PAWS!!!!

MEET ELLIE!!

For the past several years Hensley has had a strong love for pugs. He has asked for one for every holiday for the past two years. He has pugs on everything! However, with us having two dogs already and Hensley being so young we weren't sure a new puppy was a good idea.

After much talk we decided maybe it was time. We soon learned finding a pug was no easy feat!

They aren't a super common breed in our area apparently. We researched the few breeders that were in our state. We also looked around at shelters and pug rescues because we were very willing to adopt a older pug who needed a good home. No luck in that department.

We came across Springside Pugs in Raleigh, North Carolina. After reading many reviews and following them online for a while we just knew it was the right fit. Upon first contact with Ann, the owner of Springside Pugs, we knew this would be the person to help us bring a sweet baby pug into our family. Ann was very upfront and honest about how she runs the process of securing the right pug for you. She was great about keeping me informed and updated on when puppies were due and making sure we got the female fawn colored pug Hensley really wanted. We knew it would be a waiting game because puppies color and gender are out of everyone's control, but we were SO EXCITED when we got a call in early February that a fawn female was born and it was ours if we wanted her!!! We had only sent in our deposit in early January and honestly expected to not have a puppy for a few months considering the high demand for them.

The litter our puppy was in only had two puppies born and the other one was black. We were extremely lucky to have one to call ours so soon. They were born January 7th and would be ready to come home March 4th!!!! It all worked out perfect!!

The weeks leading up to the pick up date Ann was amazing with sending us many photos and videos of our sweet girl! We had asked if we could pick her up a few days early since the pick up date was originally scheduled for a Sunday and Hensley really wanted the whole weekend to bond with her. Ann was happy to oblige!

Anticipation was through the roof around our house for the few days leading up to March 2nd.

I had to work that day and Hensley had school so we had to wait until after 3 to head to Raleigh to pick her up. It was Friday, in rush hour and traffic was NOT our friend that day. An hour and a half drive turned into almost three hours!

Hensley was dressed for the occasion!

Pulling up to Ann's we were bursting with excitement!

Meeting Ann was a total pleasure. You could tell right away she took excellent care of all of her dogs and loved them dearly, even the ones she knew would be leaving to go to new homes.

She was extremely knowledgeable about the breed and gave us lots of needed advice. She had everything laid out for us. A shot record book, packet on pugs and things every owner should know about them, even all her tips and tricks to successful and quick potty training techniques!

I know so many people encourage others to adopt from shelters and not buy from breeders and I get that. However, when you find a reputable breeder like Ann who breeds these dogs because she loves them and wants other families to be able to experience that same love, you can't go wrong. Her dogs were kept inside in extremely clean conditions, played with daily, talked to, vaccinated, and love on endlessly. She truly does this because she loves to see these dogs go to loving homes.

I am so thankful we connected with her and were able to work with her to make Hensley's dream come true.

Seeing our sweet baby for the first time was the best! She was so tiny and ADORABLE!

We had seen pictures of her many times but to see her in person was beyond joyful. Hensley was on cloud 9!

With all our instructions in hand it was time to head home.

These photos taken on the way home are priceless! He was over the moon in love.

We took a quick stop by the pet store to grab some food, toys, and a kennel for house breaking.

I think we were all mostly nervous to introduce sweet Ellie to our other two fur babies. They have an incredibly close bond and bringing in a new pup could go either way.

It didn't go the best. They were on the defense, which we totally expected.

Taking things slow and highly supervised until they got more acquainted was our plan.

We were also very prepared to be up all night. Ann had explained that she never gets up with the puppies during the night at this age because they are capable of holding it all night and it's better to train them instead of letting them train you.

This piece of advice was extremely helpful during the first few weeks for us!

We never got up with her at night and she never woke that first night or any night after that!

I was shocked! And relieved!

Over the next several days Ellie was making herself at home and were all in puppy bliss!

She has a wonderful personality. Very playful and sweet. Extremely curious and not bashful at all. We expected her to be scared of loud noises like the vacuum or Hensley running through the house. To our surprise she was not. She loved to be up in all the action!