I just thought I'd drop a note to let everyone know that Dublin (formerly Stacey) is doing great!!  We adopted Dublin in July of 2004, and she has filled our lives with joy.  One of the reasons we adopted her was her playful nature.  When we arrived at BRLA, it was hot, and Dublin not only jumped in the little plastic pool to cool down, but she began to splash around and play.  She won our hearts in about 2 minutes!!  We ended up naming her Dublin because, while we were on our way home from Boxer Rescue, we were running through our list of potential doggie names.  As soon as I said "Dublin," she started licking my face.  So, she picked her own name.

 

Dublin quickly settled into our home in Santa Monica.  And although she has a back yard to play in, Dublin much prefers lounging inside on her doggie beds or lying in the sun on the patio.  Dublin is a very mellow girl, but she also gets her little "puppy bursts" and runs through the house like a maniac, grabbing her toys and trying to entice us to chase her or play tag.  She LOVES to play tag!! 

 

Shortly after bringing home Dublin, we realized that we could use some training.  Joe Ramirez was wonderful.  He helped leash-train Dublin, and, more importantly, he taught us to be consistent with Dublin.  Her manners are vastly improved!  Dennis Davison also helped us out when we needed a dog walker.  Dublin was really attached to him. 

 

About a year after we brought Dublin home, we had a baby and temporarily moved into an apartment (all in the same week), while we began remodeling our home.  Although Dublin didn't exactly love apartment life (no sunny patio for her), she adapted quite well to her new environment. Dublin loves to explore.  In fact, she once ventured into the pool - she just jumped right in as we were walking by - OOPS! (We didn't exactly share that with the apartment managers.)  Dublin LOVES the water!  (Did we mention that Dublin means "dark water"?  She really picked a fitting name.) 

 

We've now moved back to our home in Santa Monica.  Dublin has an even larger patio to sun herself on, a bigger back yard, a small plastic pool of her own, and a baby!!  At first we were a bit concerned that Dublin would be jealous of the baby.  But Dublin is very good at asking for attention in a very polite manner - when she wants attention, she simply lifts a paw and places it on your leg.  Dublin really seems to love the baby.  Each morning after her breakfast, Dublin looks for the baby and gives her lots of kisses.  The baby is equally fond of Dublin.  The baby's favoraite game is trying to catch Dublin's tail.  When the baby cries, Dublin comes running.  Dublin also is a tremendously patient girl.  The baby sometimes gets a little rough, or pulls on Dublin's ears, but Dublin just gently moves her head away.  Dublin has even learned the difference between her toys and the baby's toys, and she leaves the baby's toys alone.  This accomplishment truly amazes me, since 90% of Dublin's toys are stuffed animals.  Now if only we could teach the baby to leave Dublin's toys alone, we'd be set.

 

We are so thrilled that we found such a remarkable dog (and can't believe she ended up homeless in the first place).  She has really filled our lives with lots of love, kisses, and laughter.  We are sure that we will be back to Boxer Rescue L.A. some time this year.  Dublin LOVES other dogs, and now that we are back in our home, we'd love nothing more than to find a Boxer companion for her. 

 

We want to thank Haze, Dennis, and Joe, and all the wonderful volunteers at BRLA. You helped us find a perfect family member.

 

Ric and Molly Munoz

 

P.S. Can you tell from the photos we're Steelers fans?