Who could resist these puppy dog eyes?

Just about every day, my daughter hugs our dog, Fiona, and tells me. "I love Fiona so much." Ugh, my heart just broke a little more, because here's the quandary: We can't take her with us. The travel is strenuous and as we will be away from our home in Lagos so often, the idea of finding reliable care for her makes me worry that she would be neglected or abused. And I do not relish the idea of importing 50-pound bags of dog food, either. So Fiona stays behind. And she needs a good home.

After Bitsy told me again this morning how much she loved Fiona, I broke the news to her.

Bitsy: Then who is going to take care of her?

Me: I don't know, but we will find a nice family that she can live with.

Bitsy: If we don't, she could die.

Me: I won't let that happen.

Bitsy: Good, because I love Fiona so much. I don't want her to die.

Me (heart breaking): I know, baby.

So here's the 411 on Fiona: We rescued her from the SPCA a little more than a year ago. She's about two-years-old, part Rottweiler and part hound dog, which means that she has beautiful coloring and likes to lay around a lot -- in between spurts of energy. At 100 pounds, she can be intimidating to toddlers, but my five year-olds adore her, and the big fun at our house is to pretend Fiona is a bad guy and try to get her to chase you around the house. She is house-trained, and has not chewed anything inappropriate in about a year (um, except Caley's flip-flop, but that's it, I swear!). You will need to keep her well stocked with chew toys, though -- she loves the Kong and rawhide bones. She's an excellent guard dog and only barks when there is a stranger in the house or near the yard ... or when my father-in-law is in the house (go figure ... just kidding, Dean!).

She comes with a crate, dog bowls, leash, collar, Bitsy's love ... and my undying gratitude.

Who can resist these eyes? Post a comment if you're interested!