Party of 5

I have one of those “Dog Lovers” novelty kitchen towels. It says “One Dog Away From Being A Deranged Dog Lady”. Well, I’m already there!

For the longest time, we were a 3 dog household: a Chocolate Lab, Black Lab and a Golden Retriever. Somehow our “3 pack” turned into a “4 pack”, then 4 turned into a “5 pack”. And it all started with a cute little black puppy with big brown eyes named Lucy.

I was on my computer looking at Facebook when I saw a post of a Harley’s Haven pup with the cutest face I’ve ever seen. I literally gasped so loud, my husband looked over from the couch. “Oh my goodness”, I said, “come look at this puppy”! He did. I said, “I NEED HER”. He said, “we already have 3 dogs”. I said “I know, I can count”. He shook his head with a low grumble. I took that as a yes and proceeded with my quest to adopt this little nugget.

Lucy is from the Peanut’s Gang litter. She came up from Alabama in 2015 with her 2 siblings. They were found living outside at a very young age – poor babies! Lucky for them, they became HH puppies and started the journey to a better life.

We arranged to meet Lucy at Pennridge Animal Hospital. We instantly fell in love and submitted an adoption application. Once approved, we did a meet and greet with our other dogs and the rest is history. Lucy wasted no time charming her way into the pack and into our hearts. Okay, now we have 4 dogs…

Enter pup number 5. We had no intention of getting another dog. Somehow an outing to Free Will Brewing in support of HH’s fundraiser, “Pints & Paws”, turned into an increase in our current dog pack. Let’s just say, I’m pinning this one on my husband. He apparently wanted to meet this puppy named “Rocket” and that’s pretty much why he made sure we were at the event in the first place. Pretty sneaky! Anyway, a few pints later, I’m filling out an adoption application for the little dude. We were approved (shocker, LOL), a meet and greet was done with our 4 other dogs. All went well and we BAM!!! – Number 5!

“Rocket”, now Oliver, was a scared little pup who came to HH in 2017 from ACCT Philly. He was described by HH as needing a house with other dogs to help him with his confidence and manners. Poor little guy just needed people with patience, love and understanding. He’s still a work in progress but he’s come a long way and we love our crazy Ollie!

Oliver had been with us a little less than a year when we lost our oldest dog, Molly, in January 2018. The leader of the pack, Molly was with us for 14 years. We were heartbroken! I especially had no intention of adopting another dog any time in the near future. We were a 4 pup household – end of story.

It was October 2019. We were at Free Will for their October Fest celebration. I was inside when my husband and future son-in-law told me to come outside to see this little grey & white dog wearing a shark costume. Here we go again…

His name was “Jim”. He was from “The Office” litter who were brought into HH as pups that were found abandoned at 3 weeks of age. They all had to be bottled fed by their foster families (God bless HH foster parents!) until they were old enough to find their forever homes. Jim’s foster parents were just stopping by Free Will’s event after attending another adoption event with Jim. Jim’s foster parents just so happen to also have been Oliver’s foster parents. We chatted and then I made the mistake of picking Jim up. Yup, that was all it took. Next thing I know, I’m completing an application for the baby shark! We were approved (no surprise there), the meet and greet was done and baby – now named Ziggy – made 5 again.

Am I deranged? Maybe so. But if “deranged” means living with 5 fur babies that mean the world to me, then I’m okay with that. Truthfully, it can get hectic with this many dogs. But at the end of the day, there’s not a day that goes by that they haven’t brought me joy, love and laughter.

Ziggy is a complete goofball, Oliver is a total love bug and Lucy with her gentle sweetness, reminds me of my precious Molly. Believe it or not, my pups keep me centered and sane. I find peace and comfort with all 5 of my fur babies. I truly couldn’t love them any more for this. I’m a very happy “Deranged Dog Lady” who is unconditionally loved… x’s 5!