Meet Josie

Meet Josie.

Josie was born on March 26th in Gardnerville, Nevada.
She was one of 11 puppies born to a half bloodhound, half lab mom.


She spent her first seven weeks living outdoors in a goat shed with her mom and siblings. The people who had the dogs didn't take very good care of them, and the mom was really sick with worms.

Enter Ingrid.


Ingrid is good friends with my brother Matt. She lives next door to the puppies, and once she became aware of their living conditions, took great strides to find each and every one of them a home. She took one, my brother took two.

Matt called me about two weeks ago and said that there were two black female lab mix puppies that were in need of a good home. He wondered if we might be interested. We were a bit hesitant at first, nervous at the thought of adopting another dog since Simone's passing, but quickly became excited at the prospect. We told Matt we'd take one, and next had to decide between the two sight unseen. One was described as being active and more of an "alpha" female, while the other was smaller and sweeter. We said we were interested in the smaller, sweeter one, and Ingrid soon walked next door to take her home. Ingrid watched her for a few days, and then took her over to Matt's where she stayed with her two brothers.


Josie and her brothers keeping cool under the pickup truck.

Any hesitation we initially had quickly dissipated, and within a few days, we'd acquired all sorts of new puppy things like a bed and toys and a new food dish. All that was left was to go and pick her up. And since we'd already been planning a trip down to Nevada to visit, the timing was perfect. She could stay with Matt for two weeks until we would be able to get her. Interesting thing is if we hadn't been able to drive down, Ingrid had a friend who would be coming up to Corvallis soon who would have been willing to bring her to us. We decided this puppy was just meant to be.

Gary picked the name Josie. When I was initially on the phone with Matt, I put the receiver down for a minute to ask him if he might be interested in adopting a puppy. Gary said the name "Josie" just popped into his head and presented itself to him. So we've called her Josie ever since. And fortunately, it seems to fit her.


We drove down to Nevada last week, and Matt brought her up to Virginia City to meet us today. We were a little nervous, but as soon as we met her, we knew she was the right puppy for us. She has a very sweet personality and has many mannerisms that remind us a lot of Simone.

We thought it was also fitting that Josie arrived just as we were planting a tree in Simone's memory.

And thus we now begin a new chapter in our lives....The Josie years.