One of Many Reasons Why it is Dangerous for Me to Go to Wal-Mart

There are just some places I probably should not go, because I am the title holder for World's Most Gullible Woman! I was raised in a very loving, trusting atmosphere, and I came away believing that everything is as it should be and that people do what they say they will do. When I look someone in the eye and ask a direct question, I am apparently horrible at discerning whether they are telling me a bold-face lie or the gospel truth. I have had two situations in two weeks now where two different people have told me something that was just untrue! I am reminded of what Jesus told his disciples..."Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." (Matt. 10:16) I apparently have the dove part down, but I have some work to do on the serpent side of the equation.

Here is what most recently happened. The kids and I were going to Wal-Mart to grab a few things for dinner, and we passed by the typical "Free Puppy" display set up in a corner of the parking lot. The serpent on my shoulder said, "Keep driving." The dove said, "AWWWWWW, look at the cute puppies. Go back, go back!." The serpent said, "You did this once before with bad results." The dove smacked the serpent off my shoulder and said, "You can't leave a little defenseless, unwanted puppy out here in this 20 degree weather!"

I did a u-turn and went back around.

People were grabbing pups quicker than I could extricate myself from the car. By the time I got there, there was one left, and another lady was on my heels. I asked, "What kind of pups are they?" {Here comes the BIG FAT LIE part} "Oh, they are beagle/bloodhound mixed!" I thought, "Now those are nice, gentle breeds, should be good with kids...." I took pup-pup over to the car full of kids and asked what they thought. What did I expect them to say--no?

So, seeing that the other lady was standing there waiting to see if I was going to leave the puppy so she could take it, I decided to take it. Nearly all puppies are cute, and this one was no exception. She was apparently abused by her bigger brothers and sisters, because she was really introverted for a couple of days. The owners said that was the case. But there was something bugging me.

This puppy did not look like a beagle or a bloodhound.

I started doing research on the internet, and I came across this picture, which is the spitting image of our new pup, Lizzy. Now you tell me, what did I get?



This picture is one I found, but the markings are EXACTLY like our Lizzy's. In fact, these markings are found on every full-blooded pup of this breed. How dog-savy are you? Am I the only one who did not know what this puppy was?

Lizzy's future with the family is yet-to-be-determined. She is precious and well-behaved. It is going to be hard to give her up if it comes to that. In the meantime, I don't think I'll be making any more important decisions alone for a while.