Welcome Whittaker

 our newest family member, Whit (3-month old fox terrier)

I wasn't sure we'd ever come around to owning a dog again, but here we are. Four years after saying goodbye to Daisy (who is still alive and active in her role as mission property guard dog in Santiago), we have said hello to Whittaker.

 

The topic of adding a dog to our family came up again fairly recently, and to be perfectly honest I think Pedro decided it was the easiest way to distract the six of us (me and the kids) from further adoption ideas and discussions. (Yes, that is still a favorite conversation of ours!)

 

This time we had learned our lesson about not going with a big dog, as our patio in Iquique is even smaller than the one where we "raised" Daisy in Santiago. (And there is absolutely no grass.)

 

So I looked online and found a couple of good possibilites on "yapo (dot) cl" (the name of which site cracks us up since it is based on the famous Chilean slang meaning "come on!" which is used multiple times daily by pretty much everyone in this country, but especially kids.) 

The first puppies I seriously considered were a maltese/poodle mix because I knew they would be small and that our children would love "babying" a truly tiny pet. They were cute!

But once I saw a picture of two little fox terriers, I loved the idea of a still-small, but scrappier little pet for our family. It just seemed that a terrier would be a better fit for our busy brood than a more fragile sort of puppy. The time had come to convince my husband!

We both agreed that a puppy might be just the thing for our kids in this current stage of life and ministry where Mom and Dad are being pulled in a lot of different directions. Not that it lets us off the hook as far as giving our time and attention to them, but still a puppy would be a distraction and enjoyment for all of us.

It's only been half of one day, but if today was any indication we made the right choice. Certainly we'll have to tweak a few things in our life, but overall it has been heartwarming to share a common affection for this cute little canine. 

As far as the name goes, "Whit" is the main character on Adventures in Odyssey, a Christian radio drama series that has entertained our children for hours upon hours upon hours for many years. For this lucky little dog, it is a sign of true and enduring affection!

Welcome, Whittaker! 

PS - Just snapped this picture after writing the post. I think these two are getting along fine! :)