Stahlke Adoption

Memory Lane, Continued

During their initial days in our home, our younger children all expressed fear of our dogs Alabama and Dakota. Rachel, Sarah, and David shrank back against the nearest wall as the dogs walked past, and Dakota's bark sent Kola running for the highest piece of furniture he could find. Their apprehension was explained when Paul told us how appalling it felt to him that the dogs slept in the house. The proper place for all animals (which aren't that clean) was outdoors. It didn't help that Alabama and Dakota started shedding shortly after the kids arrived!

Over time, they children have come to love the dogs. In fact, when the five kids chose gifts for Kola in Ukraine, several of them had a "dog" theme. For example, David sent his favorite DVD (Snowdogs ) which features huskies like our Dakota. Even Bama had markings that looked somewhat like a "snowdog."

This morning, three and a half years after the adoption, I heard another reason why the children initially feared our dogs. Sarah told me that on their farm in Ukraine, she had actually seen wolves chase their sheep. She continued: "Mom, when we first came to our house in Chicago, there were two wolves inside. I was afraid that they'd chase ME!"

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:58 PM