When in doubt...make a pro & con list.

So the latest question in the Buie household has been:: Do we get another dog? If you'll remember, a few months ago our dear kitty, George, passed away tragically & very unexpectedly. So our family of 6 was once again a family of 5:: 2 humans, 2 dogs and 1 cat. As you well know we foster dogs pretty regularly through the local organization C.A.R.E. We have been known to be "foster failures" by adopting the first dog we ever fostered - Scooter. He captured our hearts and we knew within days that we couldn't let this one go. Since then, several others have been in and out of our homes - Huckleberry, Maggie, Anabel, Maggie, Pepper, & Domino.

This brings us to our latest foster - Joe Joe, who we have renamed Harvey for the time being. Neither one of us thought that Joe Joe fit him. But he seems to be pretty happy as a Harvey. :) He immediately won our hearts. He is not only energetic and happy but he is the most well behaved 6 month old puppy we have ever been around. He learned the commands "sit" and "down" within the first few days of living with us. So what's not to love, right? Well, we are trying to make this decision as 2 reasonable adults with a mortgage and a limited income, NOT as 2 dog loving people who would do just about anything for our 4 legged friends. And when it comes right down to it, this is a HARD decision to make. So as the title of my post says: "When in doubt, make a pro & con list"... so here goes.

Reasons to keep Harvey:

1. He's smart. Learns commands quickly

2. He's ADORABLE! I mean, look at that face.

3. He's only a puppy, so we could train him from the ground up, so to speak.

4. He seems to get along well with Scooter. They play well together and wear each other out.

Reasons NOT to keep Harvey:

1. Another dog would mean more vet bills, including monthly flea/tick & heartworms meds.

2. He's not too sure about Hazel, our cat, and sometimes growls at her. :(

3. Conner is not the fondest of him. While they tolerate each other, Conner is a bit stingy with his bones & toys and WILL NOT share with Harvey.

4. Because Harvey is a puppy, he needs lots of exercise and entertainment. If he is not constantly stimulated he has a tendency to get into things... See previous post.

5. If we keep Harvey, we probably won't be able to foster dogs in the future because of the quantity of dogs in our house. If we had 3 dogs, then fostered a dog to make FOUR dogs running wild, I might lose my mind.

6. And the #1 reason we probably cannot keep Harvey is that we will one day have a child. I just cannot foresee me at home with a baby, 3 dogs and a cat. Talk about crazy!

So after writing down all of the pros & cons we have decided not to keep this little fur ball. Fostering is a definitely hard job but so worth it in the end. I can't wait to meet the family who takes this pup home with them.