The best part of 2021 by far was us getting Hilda. She has worked out great for us overall, as she has turned out to be a perfect dog for Finn. No matter how he tugs on her, how aggressive he plays with her, she always takes it in stride. Finn will outright call her "my dog" and she does a great job of it. She finally has her own dog song (Wa Wa Wa White Dog which Lindsey says is the worst dog song) and Finn likes to sing along with it. The plan was to get a dog for Finn to grow up with, and she checks the box.
I am Hilda's favorite though, she is super attached to me. Every morning she jumps in the bed to cuddle me like Xena used to, but unlike Xena (who I had to call her to come lay down) Hilda does it naturally. She follows me around the house if I am there, and she waits at the door if I am not. She is friendly to Lindsey and always is there to beg food from her if she is in the kitchen, but in reality Hilda by her own choice is basically my dog.
At some point the fact that Hilda wouldn't bond as closely to her, especially after Luna was so close, was getting to Lindsey. She dreamed of a second dog, a Boston Terrier like she talked about getting before we got Hilda. But they were hard to find post COVID, and most came at crazy prices or were far away. But on a weekend in late May 2022 she found a listing for Boston puppies down in San Antonio, so we decided that day to take off for the day and take a road trip down to get a new dog.
We drove straight to this older suburb and met a couple with two puppies. One came to us and other one went the other way so that decided which one we would get. She was so small she could fit in a single hand, and we had left our house in such a flurry that we had to take a towel from the couple to bring her back in.
On the way back home we stopped twice, once at a park near New Braunfels to let Finn burn off some energy and once at the Petco in San Marcos to get her some basics like a bed and puppy food. The day and trip overall was very pleasant, and makes for a good memory. We decided to name her River after the Sci Fi character, and Lindsey immediately worked to spoil her with cooked chicken so she would be the dogs favorite.
I was nervous how Hilda would react to River. I had only seen her play rough with everyone but Finn, and I had stopped taking her to the dog park because she kept dominating the dogs there. But Hilda was great with the puppy, and immediately began watching over her and playing with her at appropriate levels by just swinging her head side to side. As a side effect of having a puppy Hilda got access to puppy food, and even though we tried to stop her soon that food had her filled out in a way she never was before within two months. The small white dog got replaced with a medium brickhouse, which I didn't mind as it meant for better cuddles.
River for her part immediately was a part of the family and showed a lot of personality from the start. She loved cuddling with Lindsey which meant she was perfect for why we got her, but Finn also loved the concept of having a "baby" in the house that was younger than him.
Now months later River is much larger in size, and she is super active and full of personality. Her and Hilda play together often, even now the rougher play that Hilda likes, and River has kinda proclaimed herself queen of the house. We have a dog army again for the first time in years, and in many ways the current combo reminds me of the years when we just had Xena and Roscoe living together in Odessa.
The difference now is Finn, and its obvious having the two dogs helps him too. It helps me get him up in the morning when they lick his face the moment I open his door. It helps me get him to behave on walks as he is insistent to walk Hilda himself with his own leash (I too hold a leash to her). It has helped him understand what it means for a dog to be his and how that means responsibilities too. He loves that Hilda is a boxer like Luna (who he still misses a year after her death) and that both dogs are "good girls." He likes to give them puppy treats, and he is always happier if I pick him up from daycare and they are in the car.
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