I grew up with a sheltie, so when it comes to grooming, I’m used to a pretty high-maintenence coat.  We had a huge assortment of brushes for her undercoat and top coat.  We had clippers to keep her hair from dragging on the floor, snow balling up on her feet, and mats forming behind her ears.  Brushing her was a huge time commitment and always resulted in a mountain of fur.

Mike really wanted a dog with short hair, but short-haired dogs shed A LOT. Ava still requires daily brushing to keep her shedding under control and the KONG Zoom Groom makes it easy.  The brush is made of rubber, so we don’t have to worry about the bristles irritating her sensitive skin.  In fact, she seems to enjoy the massage-like feeling!  We can also use the Zoom Groom during bath time.  It’s nice to have one brush to get the job done.  We would also like to try a carding tool to cut down on shedding even more, but for now we’re happy.

Mike took Ava for a walk in the woods one morning and lost his keys!

He forgot to bring his phone, so they had to walk all the way home.  Amanda took them back to the woods and they looked high and low for the keys.

We couldn’t find Mike’s keys anywhere, but we didn’t give up! We went back a few days later and spotted them on the trail.

Mike and I have wanted to get a dog for a while now, and after much discussion, we decided to start our search for a border-whippet; they’re bred to be athletic and smart, but can be a little more laid back than a border collie. Border-whippets are not as common and easy to find as, say, a black lab, so we started contacting breeders even though we both really liked the idea of adoption.  One morning, while we were searching for breeders online, we happened to run across Ava, a border-whippet up for adoption! Here’s what they had to say about her:

Knows a lot of commands, extremely high energy & playful, eager to please, perfectly housebroken. Great with cats and other dogs. SHE CAN CLIMB A CHAIN LINK FENCE.

Knows commands? AWESOME. High energy & playful? PERFECT. Housebroken? JACKPOT! Can climb a chain link fence? Well… we’re going to have to work on that one.

It all seemed perfect until we came across this next part:

We are located in Western North Carolina.

North Carolina!?  I was SO disappointed.  There was no way they would let us adopt her when we live all the way in Iowa. And what about the logistics of meeting her and picking her up?  Mike convinced me that we should go for it anyway.  He worked all morning on a masterpiece of an essay explaining why we were the perfect parents for Ava, and sent it off to the Rutherfordton County Human Society.  We heard back from them later that day and the rest is history!

We drove out to North Carolina, picked up Ava, and made it back home safe and sound.