Jenny at the barn has a lovely little shepherd mix, Rosie, whom she has
been trying to convince I need as a companion to SamDammit. I've been thinking about because Sam is so
active and both Perfect Grace and The Weiner are just too old to play with
him. And I'm getting tennis elbow from
throwing a ball and all my pants are
torn from Sam tugging on them to get me to play.
But I've changed my mind about Rosie.
In the last half century, I have never picked out a dog. Ever. Ever. When Diane and I were little, our folks got
us two Scottie puppies -- Button and Bow.
I wanted to name my puppy Tinkerbelle, but Mom wouldn't let me. Matching dresses, matching dogs.
We were
in high school when Button died; Diane got to pick out a new puppy,
Rachel. When BowBow died, someone had
given us a female Scottie they couldn't keep, so I got her - Pepper. When Diane got married, she kept Rachel and
one of Pepper's puppies, Albert. And
then for as long as I lived in AC, I didn't have a dog.
When I moved to CA, I received Woolee, my chow, as a gift. Woolee was practically perfect and I had him
for 12 years. Then sometime in there,
Jess's dad brought home a stray dog. After
Jess’s dad and I split up, I kept Thomas and we had him for 12 or 13
years.
"Woolee " "
In 1996 or 7, Annie came to live with us.
She literally showed up in the front yard.
"Anna-Banana"
About a year later Allan fell in love with the dog-the-neighbor's-mother-couldn't-keep-and-was-taking-to-the-pound. Well, that was Gracie and she is 13 this month.
"Perfect Grace"
Oh, then Jess's dad had a dog who howled and barked SO much that he got a 3-day notice to quit or be evicted. We were only going to take him for the weekend, but Ozzie turned 12 this month and he doesn't appear to be going anywhere.
"The Weiner"
And Sam. After Annie died in
2008, we didn’t get another dog. *sigh* Until
December of 2009, a customer at the shop brought in a gen-yoo-wine Albertson’s
dog – one of those puppies being given away in front of the grocery store. And
we all know how THAT’S turned out.
"SamDAMMIT"
So clearly, I've never gone out and gotten a dog. I've never known, really, what kind dogs I've
had (except Bow and WooLee), never known a birthday, and never known where the
dogs came from.
And I've always wanted a Border Collie.
So when thinking about taking Rosie-from-the-Barn, I figured if she and
Sam lived, say, 12 years, I would be nearly eligible for Medicare and would be
not energetic enough for a border collie puppy.
Meet Alice: She was born on October
7th of this year and came from a litter of puppies one of Diane's customers
had. And after a whirlwind trip to
Chico to visit Dad and Diane, Alice is coming home with me. As I write, she is snoozing under the
airplane seat in front of me. We have
now known each other 36 hours and so far she has been a delight.
"Alice Anne" waiting in her carrier at the airport
Of course I have not informed Allan.
He'll be surprised, but he is used to it. Over the years, he has come home from a
number of trips to various surprises. Once
it was a new goat (we had two goats then, both agoutis, so he knew when I
slipped a caramel one in). Once he came
home to a new cat. And once he came home
and I'd sold the house.
But this is the first time I've home with something like this. Surprise!!!!
And Alice, let me tell you a little secret: As far as lucky dogs go, baby girl, you have won the dog lottery!
