Having just purchased a new home with a big, fully-fenced yard, and feeling as though our family pooch may be starting to show her age a teensy bit, we thought the timing was perfect to add a younger dog to our family.

And our teenage daughter was begging to be allowed to take on a new puppy of her own. We recognized it would be tricky to integrate a new puppy to our existing household with two adult cats, and one submissive, elder dog. And since our family life is anything but quiet, we had to be sure we could take the time to commit to such an endeavor.

As an owner of Scampers Daycamp for Dogs, providing the necessary care, socialization and exercise for our new dog during the day was simple, but what about the transitions around our home and lifestyle away from Scampers? Were we ready to train a new puppy? Could we ensure the comfort of our cats as our new puppy explores their existence within the home? How could we be sure which breed to adopt? How could I be sure the new puppy’s temperament would be right for us for the long term? The search to answers to these questions and the puppy were on.

As we searched adoption Web sites to locate just the right dog, my daughter learned about a litter of puppies in central Washington that were described as Jack Russell terrier mixes. Knowing that Jack Russell terriers can be very high energy, I was concerned that this would be an inappropriate breed to blend into our home; he could overwhelm our much loved beagle, Rosie. However, my daughter had fallen “in love” so we agreed to contact the shelter, Wags to Riches Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, to learn more about the puppies.

As it turned out, these puppies had come from “bush baby” beginnings, and it was difficult to identify their parentage. The volunteers were able to show us a photo of the feral mom, who looked much like a border collie/terrier mix. The puppies had been changing as they grew week by week, and the shelter volunteers were preparing to revise their published best guess as to the breeds mixed to create this litter.

A conversation with the volunteer at the shelter assured me that during their evaluation of this litter of puppies, little “Hogan” was one of the quieter, milder mannered pups. She had done a detailed evaluation of each puppy and could describe each to me from her notes during the early weeks of development. This evaluation was vital in our determining that we should at least meet him in person.

Of course, once we had each held the little bundle of pooch and seen the joy in our daughter’s eyes, it was impossible to imagine walking away; but had it not been for the evaluation from the shelter’s staff, we would not have been as comfortable with our selection.  It was “Hogan” who we took home and named Sullivan (Sully) Heinz Hughes during the drive home.

Sully is now 20 weeks old, and looks a lot like a border collie/labrador retriever mix. He’s learning from his big “sister” Rosie about when and how much she’s willing to play, but she allows him to lead her outside (he takes her by the ear!) to play chase in that great big back yard. Our daughter has taught him a number of basic skills using clicker training. And, while he is not really chasing our cats as much as just wishing they would play with him too, eventually he will learn the level of interaction they prefer. He’s a great addition to the family, and we’re all in love now.

Stina Hughes is the partner for Scampers Daycamp for Dogs in Kirkland.Contact her at stina@scampersdogs.com or call 425-821-9100.