A year and a handful of months ago, we lost the dog love of our life. Chassie-girl, yellow lab only by breed- but in reality a four legged friend with the sensibilities of the best kind of human, was one of a kind. We originally brought her home to cure Caitlin and Matthew (2 and >1 at the time) of a fear of dogs. What we did not realize is that she would create a love for dogs in those two that I feel certain will be life long. She was our companion; she knew all the best playgrounds (the limp she developed late in life I am certain, was a direct result of her trying out all the slides that the kids went down); she tolerated the leg & ear tugging from four toddlers and she kept our floors spic and span. Her only flaws were in the early days-firstly, a predilection for chasing our lovely next door neighbors (who happened to be African American...I don't think I was ever able to convince them that she was color blind) and secondly, for chewing exactly one half of every pair of Matt's dress shoes. But really, every day we had with her was a gift. When I started working full time she never held it against me; after a long day of being alone in the house she never ever failed to greet me with a grin and that powerful tail knocking over everything in sight. I will always be thankful that just a few days before she died, we took her for a swim and romp at one of her favorite places.
After she crossed over the rainbow bridge our hearts were broken. Never, never could we do this again...the pain of losing her was too much and there was not a dog in the world that would replace her. So we swore off dogs.
Several months went by and then slowly, slowly...the little seed that Chass had planted in the kids began to grow. She had made us dog people! Of course we would never replace her-she was something special; but now we had a void to fill. So we went dog shopping. Right around Thanksgiving of the same year, we stopped in at the local humane society and fell in love with a tiny, copper colored squirrel of a dog. We knew (though Matt took a little more convincing) that she was the one for us. Different in every way from Chassie (after Chass died we all mentally retired the breed in the way that sports teams retire the jerseys of the best), this little firecracker puppy came home and made our hearts happy again. So much energy! Enthusiasm! Love of food! (okay so not totally different from Chassie). Our new Penny was perfect for us. And she has loved us tremendously, but... she has her own void. When we adopted her, she was in a pen with her brother. Now mind you, brother was NOT the one for us. He was very aggressive and the shelter folks said that he had to be separated from Penny at night because he was too rough and they worried that he would have hurt her. So there was no question at the time, of us adopting both. But Penny has never quite gotten over having a constant playmate. Every dog she sees is her best friend regardless of size. Her closest friend right now is our neighbor's giant German Shepherd...he tries to herd her and she plays along because ITS SO GOOD TO HAVE A FRIEND! But this is only for occasional playdates and Penny needs something more. She needs a lifelong buddy. So, after lengthy consideration, Matt and I decided that it was time to find a friend for her. So off we went; this time to the local animal control shelter. So many dogs to see; so many that we could have brought home and saved from one more day in a shelter. But when we saw #45362829 (poor buddy did not yet have a name), we fell in love. This guy was a gentleman through and through-shy, sweet and super playful. Tuesday of this week we will bring him home and Penny will finally have a friend. I cannot wait to see them play together! I can only hope that Chassie is smiling down on us; happy that she paved the way for two pups to leave shelters and find a home in our house and hearts.
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