Today, Brian and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Three years and one day ago today, we both first learned of the Puggle. Now, Bruschi is camped out on my lap, while Kodi is sleeping in sync on Brian's.

I always intended to have a dog, and Brian proudly proclaimed that "Learch men are dog people." The bigger question for us was which breed. I love Labs and Beagles. Brian wanted a Pug. We both have deep feelings for Corgi's but were intimidated by shedding. Undecided, Brian staved off my relentless demands for a puppy-- promising we would revisit after the honeymoon.

The day before we got married, we were in separate states, both watching the Today Show featuring Puggles. Like many Americans, we fell in love, and our next phone call wasn't about floral mishaps, missing pianists, disappearing aisle runners, or bad manicures... it was how we just saw the cutest dog that would be the perfect addition to our lives. The Puggle was to be our wedding gift.

I thought of this today when I got an email from the rescue we volunteer with, letting volunteers know that a hound mama and her 7 little four week old pups were found alone in the woods of Virginia.

Three years ago, we didn't consider a rescue pup, largely, because we didn't have the faintest idea that such a thing as rescue puppies existed. We thought that only older dogs were abandoned, and we really wanted a puppy. In our minds-- who on earth abandons a mama dog with little ones? Well, three years later, we learned this happens as frequently as Bruschi steals food off our plate.

If you couldn't tell by now, we love our breeder-bred designer dog from nose to tail, and have no regrets about how we came to have him in our lives. We just didn't know what we do now about rescue. And perhaps, it was Bruschi who brought us to be exposed to others with rescue dogs.

Brian and I still say things like "what human abandons a dog?," but now we know just how much of a reality it is. And, having seen some of those pups grow, we know just how special a rescue puppy is, just how much joy they bring, and just how wonderful a life they can lead.

I did pause for more than a minute to think about bringing the litter home to foster, as an anniversary present for Brian, but then figured I'd save Husband of the Year material until our five year :)