Jill...if you are reading this...please don't discuss it with your brother...YET....

For some time now, my kids and I have been talking about getting a dog. Off and on, I've contemplated what kind of dog to get. Rescued or pedigreed? Small or smaller? Male or female? Then last week in Fire Island, we met a wonderful, adorable Beagle, with big brown eyes rimmed with black and the sweetest disposition, and Adam and I were hooked (Brian doesn't much care - he would much rather I have another baby, and preferably a girl, but, well, that just isn't happening).

So, I did a bunch of research and confirmed my first thought - that a Beagle puppy that I can raise from babyhood is a wonderful choice because I am around most of the time now, and even when I teach or take a class, I still come back home afterwards (as opposed to spending long days in an office). More on the plus side: Beagles don't shed much, don't have much body odor, are wonderful with children, are "pack dogs" so that they learn to love the entire family (as opposed to favoring just one family member, which would inevitably be me, to the consternation of my kids), are active, intelligent and even clever (or so I hear), have a fairly long life-span and just are so damn cute as puppies that even my grouchy ole Husband will be seduced.

I have been searching for a local breeder but haven't found one that I am comfortable with. It seems that there are a ton of Beagle breeders throughtout the midwest, but not so much in New York/New Jersey/Connecticut (and it also seems like there aren't a lot of pet beagles around here either: lots of Yorkies, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Chitzuhs, Maltese, Boston Terriers, and Labs, but not too many Beagles). I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to rely on trust and just reserve a puppy sight-unseen from a distant breeder and have it shipped, which sounds like a really scary thought.

And then today, just for fun, Adam and I went to Pets on Lex, just to see if there were any cute dogs we might play with while we waited to satisfy our Beagle-jones. Inside, a Cavalier and a Chihuahua were frisking it up together, and I started chatting up the sales clerk in the hopes of getting him to take one of them out to play for a bit. "So," I asked him, "how come you never seem to have any Beagles in here?"

Well, as it turned out, a teeny, tiny, two-month old Beagle had arrived there just this morning. They had just picked her up from the airport! At first, the clerk wouldn't even show her to us. "She's not ready. She just left her mom less than 24 hours ago, and she hasn't had any of her shots yet," he explained.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease???? Can't we just see her? My son is in love with Beagles..."

After a brief discussion with the owner, the clerk brought her out to us. And she was soooo soooo sooooooooo cute, it hurts to even think about it. Tiny, but with big, puppy paws, big floppy ears and gorgeous hazel eyes. She nestled in the crook of my arm and burrowed her face into my chest. She was a little squirmier when Adam tried to hold her. At one point, we set her down on the floor, and I started talking to her in mommy-eze, and she cocked her head and looked at me right in the eyes, and then cocked her head the other way, still maintaining that intense eye contact.

More begging ensued, and the shop owner agreed to let us a put a deposit down to reserve her, pending her trip to the vet tomorrow. At both Brian and Adam's request, she is being named after "Lou the Beagle", the main character in the movie, Cats and Dogs. So, her name will be "Lou" (short for "Lulu", at my insistence). In fact, they refer to any Beagle in general as "A Lou". I hope they understand that THIS Lou won't be talking to them in the voice of Tobey Maguire.

Now, there is just the tiny little detail of getting The Husband on board with this. He actually is theoretically okay with the idea of having a dog - as long as I am the dog's primary caretaker, which of course I will be, since The Husband works like 12 hours a day. The issue will be, as it always is, the speed at which I run off and do things. He says that I "motorcycle"everywhere...zoooooooming here....zoooooming there.....I know he has a point. But as anyone can tell who reads this blog on even a semi-regular basis, I am INTENSE. When I get an idea in my head, I have to go, go, go with it. Most of the time, my instincts are good and have brought me success. Of course, yoga (and particularly Ashtanga) teaches us to be patient and mindful and methodical. But I really want this dog. Must. Have. This. Dog. I'm in love!!!

Back to the real world....I have so much to learn about caring for a new puppy!! Must go read now...

YC