Hope Dungan

Well, Friday afternoon brought an early birthday surprise for me. After the title of this entry some of you might be thinking we have a new bun in the oven - you know, another Dunganlet to add to our twerp menagerie. Well in some ways you are right and in other you are out of your freaking mind. As much as I love our kiddos. Three is the official max. I am not octoDad.

So, no, no kiddos on the way. We did, however, make one very cute little addition to the Dungan household. He added Hope.

Hope was born on February 24, 2009. She is a Shetland Sheepdog and, might I add, absolutely adorable. You might be thinking "A dog, really Mark. Is that really what you needed? Did the Dungan Five Zoo really need another mouth to feed?" No, you are probably right on all accounts. However, I did have an ulterior motive.

First, you should know, I love Shelties. I had one starting at the age of 4. Unfortunately, over the past 10 years or so though I have not had one in my life. In fact, the dogs and cats were always chosen by other family members. I patiently bided my time until it was just right.

Why is now the right time?

Well, here comes my ulterior motive. You see, every 6 months my wife or the kiddos start pestering me for another animal. I am able to fend them off for a while but eventually I have to go out of town on business. When I do, mom strikes. Somehow, that business activity translates into another mouth to feed. I decided to put a stop to it.

You see, my mother has a new baby Sheltie as well. His name is Duffer. I figure these two will make an excellent breeding pair. In about six months everyone is going to be asking for a new animal. All I have to do is just ask them if they want to have puppies. We get her through her second heat and, bam, the timing would be perfect to start the having some puppies. It will be a great learning experience for the kiddos. It will fulfill all of their needs to have new puppies and by the time they are tired of them they will be ready to head out the door. Better yet, I get to sell them for $500.00 a piece.

This recovers by investment, covers my vet bills, and keeps me from adding any mouths to add in the foreseeable future. Whenever they want a new animal we will just have some new puppies.

Everybody is happy!

By the way, this is MY view of the world. So those of you with breeding experience or a clear vision of reality please refrain from commenting. This is how I am dealing with it. Let me revel in my success before reality sets in.

This, for me, is a very, very happy birthday present.

See, even Hope has purpose!