This week will mark five years since we brought home Chloe, a beagle and Australian cattle dog mix who has become part of our family like I never thought possible. She came to us via our then-local shelter in Green Bay, Wis., who in turn got her from a shelter in Kentucky. I remember the day husband and daughter visited the shelter, unbeknownst to me until I got a phone call at work asking “Whatcha doing?” followed by a giddy “Guess where (daughter) and I are? At the shelter!” I shouldn’t have been surprised because a few days earlier I had mentioned to husband that I had a dream about him letting daughter get a dog. He was allergic to cats, and didn’t really want to get a dog either, until I suggested that a short-haired dog might be OK with his allergies. I didn’t think it would go anywhere, however, because daughter had been asking for a pet for years to no avail. Continue reading →