We have had a smaller dog for many years. She’s been a great addition to our family but she’s never really been much of a dog. I’ve jokingly called her the best cat ever.

In reality, she’s been good dog for us and a great dog for my wife. She loves my wife and my wife loves her.

Still, a few years ago I started seriously wanting another dog — a bigger, more active, more manly dog — and at some point a couple of years ago I started looking in earnest for my dream dog. I had no idea when we started the process that it would take so long, but I think all the waiting finally paid off when we got Truman.

Truman is a seven month old chocolate labrador retriever that we just adore. He’s as playful as any lab puppy but he knows how to chill too. He loves being around all of us and brings his toys to us to try to entice us to play with him. He’s everything I was looking for in a dog and I feel like God brought our paths together.

We’ve only had him for three weeks but he already feels like part of the family!

Now, a lot of folks have asked me about his name. It seems that the name “Truman” is sort of polarizing. People either like it or hate it.

I, obviously, like it, but I don’t like it when people assume it’s somehow connected to The Truman Show. In fact, when I first took him to the vet, the veterinary assistant said something like, “Here’s Truman. He must be the star of his own show.” I hated that she thought I was was such a huge fan of a movie that I would name my dog after a film. That’s so lame. It would be like naming you dog “Bruce Almighty” or something.

So, how did he end up with the name? Well, I was looking at all sorts of dogs at all sorts of rescue organizations and one of them was named Truman. I immediately thought of Harry S Truman, a president that I’ve really admired since I read a wonderful biography about him. I decided at that moment that I liked the name for a dog and filed it away.

Later, after searching and searching for the right dog, with several close calls failing to materialize, I decided to take a small step of faith and have a dog tag made with the name Truman on it. After one particularly devastating close call fell through I put the dog tag on my key ring and used it to remind me to pray that God would lead me to the right dog every time I touched my keys.

Now, when we finally got Truman home, I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to call him Truman or not. I thought I should wait a couple of days and see if it felt right. Obviously, it did eventually feel right and that’s been his name ever since. We spent the first week getting to know each other, getting all his things in order, I even ordered the best overall products for flea protection and tick removal, just in case. He was going to be set for life!

So, he’s not named after a movie or Jim Carrey. He’s named after a biography that I like and a former president who came from humble beginnings but became a great leader over time.

Come to think of it, I’m not sure naming your dog after a president is any less geeky than naming him after a movie, but I like the name regardless.

I look forward to having many, many years with this new addition to our family.