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One winter's day in Bailey Colorado a certain couple of young boys begged and begged their parents for a dog. Their sister was only a few months old and their mom had held out as long as she could on adding any more members to the family. But the boys were persistent and their dad decided to check out the local shelter "just to see." A box of puppies had been found on the side of the road, one day after Christmas and were brought to the rescue shelter where they were being nursed back to health. One look on that tiny black lab puppy and there was no going back.
We all fell in love with her soft, fluffy snuggles and her constant "smooches." Mom was a bit overwhelmed with a newborn AND a puppy as the puppy had a knack for finding places to use the bathroom in the house while she was occupied with nursing. Still, the she was the perfect addition to our family and she regularly made everyone smile. We named her Cinder because she was black with a few specks of brindle (that have since grown out). We had lost our previous beloved Labrador, Ellie, to cancer so it only seemed natural to name our new fur baby, Cinder-Ellie.
As a puppy, Cinder loved to prance around in the snow, wrestle with the kids and get Starbucks Pupacinos. Even as young pup she guarded Chloe's crib and bedroom just as Ellie used to do for our boys. John was working nights and having Cinder home with us was gave us some comfort that our "alarm" system would alert us if any trouble was lurking in the forest. Especially those pesky bears. To this day, Chloe loves to tell people that both she and Cinder are Colorado Natives.
