Introducing Silkie, And Why A Puppy ?

Our regular friends all know that both Miss Priss and Burley Dog were fans of Ace Hardware, and spent a fair amount of time cruising the aisles and schmoozing.  Silkie is following in the family paw prints.  Silkie is in the midst of her inoculations and can't be on the ground yet, so here she is in her "wheels".. I would like to take a moment to thank the anonymous people who gathered the money for us to get a new puppy.  We certainly could not have purchased one for quite some time, your kindness will be payed forward in the near future.  I cannot make myself open Miss Priss's FB page up yet, it was so totally her; and we were not doing an active search at the time of Miss Priss's passing.  I will try to open it again, or I may just take the concept, close the page to open a new one with Silkie.
Silkie is going to be a very petite Newfoundland.. at 4 months she only weighs 31 pounds, but she is healthy as a horse. The vets have given her an A plus for charm and well being. She took one look at Burley Dog's 215 pound frame , and then walked over and put her head in his mouth to look around.  I sense a committed relationship:)  Burley Dog still looks for Miss Priss, Newfoundlands are very bonded dogs, but he enjoys his new friend.  He gives his deepest bark and she comes and lays beside him, they eat together and sleep bundled.  Burley Dog has a "crate mate" in the van and we are moving slowly forward..It still hurts to much to really talk about most days..
In the spirit of Oreo I will sneak a bit of serious info in here amidst the chatter.. I can almost hear the unspoken " why didn't they adopt? "  Good question, I will offer the best answer I can. I advocate for adoption, that said you have to think of the resident pet.  Burley Dog is an 8 year old Newgfoundland, by nature a very submissive breed, Burley Dog in particular is unassuming.  It would be very easy for him to be bullied in his own home.  Miss Priss was the bossy butt, and I'm sure Silkie will be the same, seems to be the nature of the gender irregardless of species.  All of my dogs have always laid down to eat, and I'm sure over the years you've seen many a picture of 3 of my guys laying down at one dish.. just how we do things at Oreo's.  My concern with bringing in an adolescent or adult dog was that is would push Burley Dog further into his confusion. A puppy is a safe thing and he doesn't have to worry about his role in the household.  Already he defers to Silkie, I put the food down and he lays there, watching her eat, then softly leans his head in for a kibble.. how he has always been.  Silkie nudges the food to his nose and they eat together.  A dog with a stronger personality would possibly run him from his dish. I believe that without Silkie our Burley Dog would have gone into a depression and never came out.. Again,  thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Burley Dog's tail..