Daisy, Daisy ...

Give me your answer, do.
I'm half crazy
All for the love of you.

I swear I have never sung the chorus of "A Bicycle Built for Two" as often in my life as I have since we acquired our dog Daisy! Nearly every time I say or think her name, I begin singing, which is really beginning to annoy me despite the fact that I do like the song.

I never wanted a dog, but of course the children did and were continually asking for a dog. I always referred them to Daddy, and his answer was always no. A neat, reliable system. I just didn't count on Pookie's prayers.

I should have known from past experience that her prayers were likely to be answered. She prayed for a brother (and announced to her teachers and friends that I was having a baby boy a couple of months before I was even pregnant - boy, was that interesting!) and got one. She has prayed for other things we had no intention of getting for her and has received them. A dog proved to be no exception.

Daisy appeared at our house one on a Monday. Next thing I knew, the children were playing with this strange dog, petting her, and trying to get her into our backyard - something which I absolutely forbade. When she was still hanging around the next day, the kids did get her into our backyard and gave her food.

When I spoke to Mr. Incredible on the phone, he told me to make the kids get her out of the backyard. They did, but they continued to leave food for her under a tree just outside our backyard gate.

On Wednesday, Daddy relented and said that if the dog was still hanging around we should put her in our backyard and try to find her owner. Of course she was still around. After putting her in the backyard, I searched online and called the local animal shelter to see if anyone was missing a dog fitting her description.

The animal shelter told me that there was only one dog reported missing that might be the dog in our backyard. After receiving my permission, the shelter called the owner of the missing dog and gave her my contact info. She called within minutes. Our conversation convinced me that the dog in our backyard might actually be her dog. I gave her our address and she immediately came to find out if we had her dog.

The kids were ecstatic when the lady said that we didn't have her dog. That night, the kids were more thrilled when Daddy told them that we could keep the dog if we couldn't find her owner.

We haven't found her owner, and Daisy is now a member of our family. Although I didn't want a dog, if I had to have a dog, Daisy is the kind of dog I would have chosen: calm, well-mannered, intelligent, good with children, quiet, patient, and even-tempered. She rarely barks and appears to like everybody in our family equally well.

Why is she now named Daisy? That was the name of the missing dog, and the girls decided that's what they wanted to call their dog. So now I have that song permanently stuck in my mind.