Meet Jozi Gertrude Siegel

26 May 2012 marks the day one of my dreams came true!  Alex and I brought home Jozi Gertrude Siegel, a 9 week old Weimaraner puppy!

Within the first week of our relationship, Alex learned that I have had a long desire for a Weimaraner puppy named Gertrude.  I don't really know the origins of this great need of my life, nor do I know why I so desperately thought her name should be Gertrude.  Perhaps it comes from the joy I found looking at William Wegman books, or maybe the stories my dad told me about his crazy aunt who made doughnuts and had weimaraners named Grey Boy...but no matter the reason, I knew my life would not be complete unless someday I had a baby weim.

We had our sweet, wonderful Tuffy, so we knew (well, thought) that we would not be getting another dog for quite awhile.  The best laid plans....

Our original intention was to wait until we moved back to the States and get a puppy as a welcome home gift to ourselves.  However, the more we thought about it, the more we felt that this would be the best time for us to get a puppy.  I'm home every morning, only working for four hours in the afternoon, and even though school starts in the fall, this will be the least demanding year of the next three.  After researching import requirements for dogs into the US (SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE), we decided to see what JoBurg had to offer in the dog department...and it did not disappoint.

Alex called me on Thursday and told me to clear my Saturday because we were going to look at Weimaraner puppies.  My smile was so big I couldn't see!!!

Yesterday we went and met our pup, her sister, and her mom and dad at their home about an hour south of Johannesburg.  Besides the excitement of being on the way to what could be our new puppy, I really enjoyed seeing what other areas of South Africa were like, AKA not the big city.  And it gave us time to discuss names.  I didn't want Alex to have to deal with having a dog named Gertrude...as much as I think it is a great name, I know literally no one else in this world does.  So my second choice was Scout, a book character from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of my favorite novels.  Alex thought that a one syllable name was weird (hmmm...Anne is a one syllable name....) so sadly, Scout got the boot.  We settled on JOZI, which is the nickname for Johannesburg, to remind us of her origins even when we are back in the States.

We got to the house, went to the yard, and Jozi walked right up to us.  WE WERE SOLD.  We both knew she was the perfect fit for us.

She did great on the car ride home, great at the pet store, and knock on wood...SHE HAS NOT POTTIED IN THE HOUSE SINCE WE GOT HER.  We are so proud of our smart baby.

She also has really attached to both of us, and we are so thrilled.  She slept in her crate last night with no problems, too.  We are hopeful this isn't just the honeymoon stage of puppy ownership...

We also know that our sweet Tuffy is looking down on us and so happy that we are giving another pup such love.  The unending love and happiness he brought us is what made us realize that having a canine companion in our life was so important to both of us.

Alex and I celebrated two weeks in JoBurg and the arrival of Jozi with champagne that his sweet friends from Oxford had left (thanks Vits, Alan, and Sam!)  I made four cheese mac and cheese and roasted broccoli for dinner, and Alex and I spent the whole meal talking about how blessed we are, for so many reasons.  Cheesey meal, cheesey convo---guess it was appropriate!