Say howdy to Archie! And then say awww, he’s adorable! 
I took last Friday off from work so Kay and I could drive to Hugo in southeast Oklahoma to meet some wonderful folks who breed Havanese puppies in Vinita in northeast Oklahoma. Kay found them online, and although we’ve never adopted a dog from a breeder, we chose to do this after studying up and deciding the breed would be a nice fit for our family.
The breeders were making several deliveries Friday of young pups to new owners. Our little Archie turned all of 2 months old Friday, and he has quickly taken to us and we’ve fallen in love all over with a new canine family member. He is soooo tiny, weighing 3 pounds, 3 ounces at his last vet visit Thursday with the breeder. At full size, Archie will likely only be between 8 and 12 pounds.
As most of you know, in March we lost our sweet terrier rescue Maisy, who lived to be almost 18. We then adopted a precious Wheaten terrier whom we named Win-Win, but after several months of behavioral issues we just couldn’t manage, we sadly had to return Win to the rescue group. Fortunately, she is in a new home with another dog, which we felt was going to be important for her permanent home to have a successful outcome for her.
Archie and Kay bonded in the back seat while I drove the 4 hours back to Arlington, including 3 stops for him to do his business and run around. He makes the cutest puppy whines and whimpers, and if Kay gets out of his sight, he breaks into a round of sounds to let her know he misses her. We’ve been having Archie sleep in a pet carrier on the nightstand next to our bed and he’s been sleeping through most nights, waking at 5 or 5:30 a.m. to go outside.
It’s been so cute to see Archie in our backyard, running, hopping and rolling around, practically getting lost in the St. Augustine grass. He’s already been doing a great job knowing where to pee and poop, although he’s had a few accidents and we know that’ll take training. We have soft ramps leading out and in through our “doggie window” and we thought that as small as Archie is, it would take him a while to master getting through it. But with a little coaching — and smarts, which we can see he has in spades — he’s figured it out!
Our 12-year-old cat Teena, who is quite cantankerous and has never liked our dogs, has kept her distance. Archie has made attempts to introduce himself but Teena is definitely not interested. It may be because Archie is so tiny, but Teena hasn’t shown signs of being as perturbed and, um, bitchy as she was with Win-Win and always was with our dear Maisy. So we’ll see how that relationship goes, but we’re not expecting much. 
Welcome to our family, Archie! 
A Life of Words 