Meet our new puppy, Luna Lovegood!

For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, I have some news. WE ADOPTED A PUPPY from ALIVE Rescue yesterday!! YAY!!!

We’ve both been wanting to get a dog for a while, but the timing was never quite right for us as individuals. We both grew up with dogs, so we know how much work they are – and we know that it’s worth making sure you’re at least somewhat ready ? Once we decided to move in together, it was clear that we could easily tag team the responsibilities… and then it was only a matter of time.

We set a goal to adopt a puppy in the Spring – that’s actually one of the reasons why we booked our trip to Barcelona and Lisbon! Why not go on a European getaway before we have a pup to think about? We planned on starting the search at a Chicago Animal Shelter after we got back, but then I found this little lady…

How We Found Luna

Does anyone else sometimes search “rescue puppies in Chicago“? No? Just me? ? A little over a week before we left for our trip, I was hanging out at home and I googled exactly that. I clicked on Petfinder, searched for small and medium sized puppies in Chicago, and what do I see? A whole littler of puppies with Harry Potter names. Shut. UP.

Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood… it was too good to be true. I was ready close to the tab because I assumed they would all be scooped up before we got back from our trip. Then I saw “Not available for adoption until April 19th. “

As soon as Adam got home, I showed him the link and he was just as excited as I was. Especially considering I grew up with labs and he was slightly terrified I’d pick out a big dog when the time came. These pups were tiny (and will only grow to 25-30 pounds), they had Harry Potter names (we’re huge HP nerds), they were from a Chicago Rescue, and SO STINKING CUTE. We had to apply!

The Adoption Process

Once I found her on Petfinder, we were directed to fill out an application for ALIVE Rescue. Their application is quite extensive – it goes way beyond contact information and prior experience with dogs. It felt like a lot when we filled it out, but once we talked to them, we understood that everything they do is to ensure that the people adopting are really ready for a dog and know what they’re getting themselves into. 

A few days after we applied, they emailed us to let us know that Luna was available. (I had said we would take any of the Harry Potter pups on our application ?) We then scheduled a phone interview, which lasted about an hour. We talked about a few things on our application, as well as some logistics (her microchip, vaccines, getting spayed, etc.). After that, she let us know we could schedule a home visit!

I love that they do home visits, because it’s such a great opportunity to make sure it’s a good fit. Do you like the dog? Does she like you? Honestly, a puppy like Luna is VERY hard not to love, but sometimes personalities just don’t mesh well. This way, both ALIVE Rescue and the adopter have a chance to meet, and then 24 hours to decide if it’s a good idea to move forward. 

Obviously our home visit went VERY well and we barely waited an hour before emailing them that we wanted her. They sent us their approval, we set up an adoption finalization meeting, paid the fee, and then we brought her home!

What kind of dog is she? How old is she? How big will she get?

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what kind of breed she is, and the truth is that we don’t know for sure! According to ALIVE she is a beagle/spaniel mix. She looks a lot like a beaglier, which is a Beagle and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. SO CUTE. As for age, she’s right around 11 weeks and we think she will grow to be around 25-30 pounds.

How She’s Doing So Far

She’s doing great! She is a huge snuggler and she has definitely bonded with both of us already. It’s so sweet how much she likes to be close to us. We also introduced her to her crate pretty quickly yesterday (her first day) as a nice place to nap when we’re around. That way, when it came time for bedtime, she didn’t mind going in. She cried a little, otherwise she slept all night until 5:30am, only waking up to go out once in the middle of the night. We’re calling that a win!

Any other questions?

I’m thinking about writing a separate post all about what to consider before getting a puppy… would that be helpful for any of you? Or “what to expect the first week”? Haha I’ll need 5.5 more days of research before I can put that one together though 😉 

Thank you so much for all of the love and support! We are absolutely smitten with her and feel so lucky that she’s ours!

PS. Have you read The Best Binge Worthy Shows and Our Engagement Story?