Meet Pongo.

Meet Pongo...our newest addition.

He was an April Fool's puppy, and I guess you could say the joke was on us. David and I (and our littles, of course) were going to get a cup of coffee at our local coffee shop, chat, and enjoy a little break on a Sunday afternoon. When we saw the parking lot, which would usually be quite empty on a Sunday afternoon, it was completely full of cars, and tents, and, oh my, dogs.

All of the local humane societies were having adoption day in the very parking lot of our coffee shop, where we were going to get a cup of coffee.

Now, so that we do not sound unbelievably rash, David and I have been looking for the perfect dog for our family for quite some time now. We've met several dogs from different rescue groups, and I browse Petfinder on a regular basis. But we haven't been in a hurry, because we really wanted it to be the right fit.

So back to the parking lot- I convinced David to "just look" at the dogs and let Dmitri see them. We walked quickly and un-interestedly past several cages, and until we reached a beautiful dog who was calmly laying in his crate while the other dogs went bizerk beside him. All of us were instantly drawn to him, and we sat and looked at him, and he looked at us. And I said at least seven times, he is so cute, and calm, and sweet.

So we got him out. He stood calmly beside us, and was happy to be petted. And Dmitri and Damon petted him, and hugged him, and laughed at him. All four of us were quite smitten.

We took an adoption application, and went to get that cup of coffee.

And really, there is very little left to the story, except that we left the coffee shop with an iced black & white mocha, and a black and white puppy too.

He remained nameless for a day or two, until we settled on Pongo. 101 Dalmations was both David's and my favorite childhood movie, and so it stuck. I wanted to wait a little to write about him, so that I actually had something to write about. He's quite well-behaved; he sits, stays, comes, and leaves the chickens alone, thankfully. He is great with other dogs, and the kids love him. And he goes into his crate on command and is potty trained.

We are still working with him, and he still has some puppy habits- like surfing the table for food and I have to watch him with the littles' wooden toys.

But he has brought a lot of happiness, and Dmitri and Damon really enjoy having a furry creature to love on.

Without further ado, here is Mr. Pongo.