The Year of the Dog officially rolled in on February 16 and through an unexpected turn of events, we happened upon this blue-eyed beauty.

Our family has always wanted a puppy but every attempt to find one in the past has somehow been thwarted. So, our attention was immediately captured when a friend told us that one of her colleagues had adorable puppies in need of good homes.

When she sent a photo around for anyone interested, the striking father reminded me our dearly departed Shelby who will have been gone now for nine years this summer. Here are the proud parents – the father is a brindle Siberian husky and American bulldog cross, and the mother is a German Shepard and black Labrador cross.

The timing must have finally been right since everything has fallen into place. We are now in a state of distracted puppy love and scrambling to get our house puppy proofed for our new fur baby. If it seems that we’ve fallen off the face of the earth, or you wonder what happened to our social media existence – chances are we’re probably just outside or taking a walk in the park and can’t come to the phone…