It’s a dog’s life or the Adventures of Jack, part 1

When we moved into our house everyone asked us if we were going to be getting a dog soon.  We have a rather large yard, so in most peoples’ minds a dog was a given.  We always answered with an emphatic “No!”  About nine months before we moved we buried our beloved cat, Tequila, and we just weren’t ready to invest emotionally in another animal.

 About three years later, I was ready; Himself, no so much, but I convinced him it was time.  I’ve always liked big dogs but we thought we would be better off with a medium sized one.  So we did our research and found that Labradoodles usually grow to 50 to 70 pounds and shed very little.  Perfect!

We found a reputable breeder not too far away and e-mailed to find out if any puppies were available.  We had fallen in love with several they had on their website.  Yes!  There were still a couple looking for homes.  A couple days later we were on the road to see if one of these puppies would be our new “fur baby.”

At this point we weren’t 100% certain we would come home with a dog. Or maybe we would get two, so one wouldn’t be lonely.  We wanted to “meet” the puppies before deciding.  The breeder had to think we were nuts.  We came totally unprepared – no collar, no leash, nothing.  Since we had talked with them, one of the dogs had been adopted.  They brought out the last remaining one, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Himself will tell you he knew by the look on my face that we would be going home with another passenger in the car. 

The puppy was gentle and patient.  A litter of younger puppies was crawling all over him as he lay in the pen.  It didn’t seem to faze him.  And he wasn’t afraid at all of meeting two new strangers.  I was hooked.   We filled out our paperwork, wrote out a check, and headed on home with our new puppy on the end of some borrowed twine.

Apparently, riding in the car made him a little nervous.  As he lay in Himself’s lap, he farted the whole way home!  SBDs.  Silent But Deadly.  Our eyes were watering.  My nose was running. It was about an hour and 45 minute drive; halfway home we stopped so we could air out the car.

I think all three of us were quite grateful when we finally arrived home. 

At first I was going to name him Lewis, for CS Lewis, but that just didn’t fit.  Himself reminded me that CS Lewis’ nickname among his friends was Jack.  That name fit our new puppy perfectly.

When we took him to the vet the next day, we found out our puppy was already 44.5 pounds and we could expect that he would at least double that weight.  So much for a medium sized dog! 

To be continued. . .

AMDG