We weren't really thinking about getting another dog.
Marty is, in our completely unbiased opinion, a perfect pup. He's sweet and snuggly and endlessly patient. He's a great travel buddy, a professional couch companion, and generally just the best dog we could have imagined bringing into our family.
Marty enjoying a Van Leeuwen pup cup at Ponce City Market in Atlanta ā his birthday treat!
But we also know Marty loves having friends.
Every time another dog comes around, he seems genuinely delighted. So every once in a while, we'd wonder: Would Marty like a sibling?
We didn't know. And we weren't exactly looking for an answer.
Then we started checking out some of the rescues around us, just to see who was out there. That's how we found a rescue in Raleigh and ended up meeting a little puppy named Kiss.
Kiss and her litter had been born around Valentine's Day, hence the name. She was small and slow and sweet, with the kind of soft puppy energy that makes you immediately want to scoop her up.
We went to meet her at her foster's house.
And she found my lap. š„°
Then she stayed there. š„¹
It was dĆ©jĆ vu.
When we first met Marty at his foster's house, he had walked right over to Brandon, climbed into his lap, and apparently decided, Well, I guess this is my person now.
And Kiss did the same with me.
We left without her, at least for the moment, and talked about her the entire drive home.
Maybe she was the one.
Maybe Marty would like her.
Maybe we were completely nuts!
A week later, we went back to Raleigh with Marty.
He was curious and open to her almost immediately. Kiss was a little more nervous, which was understandable. There was a new dog, two new humans, and a whole lot happening at once. But she slowly warmed up.
And then, somehow, we were signing adoption papers.
Just like that, we had a second dog.
We named her Rosie. š¹
Partly because it felt like a name that suited her sweet disposition, and partly because, well, she just seemed like a Rosie.
Of course, Rosie has since revealed that the sweet, snuggly little puppy we met that day was only one small part of her personality.
She's a total clown. š¤”
She's playful and ridiculous and endlessly entertaining. She loves Marty with her entire tiny-but-growing body, and the two of them have become completely bonded. Wherever Marty is, Rosie generally isn't far behind.
And we absolutely love watching them together.
It was the right move.
They play hard. They snuggle hard. Rosie keeps Marty on his toes in a way that apparently even counts as exercise. He's actually lost some weight since she came along, which is probably a good thing considering our vet had gently suggested that our nearly 90-pound boy was getting a little too comfortable with his identity as a lap dog.
Rosie has, apparently, put an end to that.
We could spend all day watching the two of them. They have their own little language, their own routines, and a seemingly endless supply of energy. One minute they're tearing around the house like maniacs, and the next they're curled up together like they've been siblings forever.
They're also the stars of our neighborhood.
We live right next to a park, which means pretty much every dog who goes to the park walks past our house. Marty has always been a bit of a local celebrity, but now people stop to greet Marty and his crazy little sister Rosie.
They're pretty hard not to love.
We're still not exactly sure what Rosie is mixed with. Boxer, definitely. (Just check out that underbite!) We originally guessed pit bull for the rest, but at this point we've accepted that Rosie is simply a mysterious combination of several very adorable things.
Whatever she is, she's 100% cute.
And apparently, she was exactly the dog we didn't know we needed.
