After my sweet Indy boy went to the Rainbow Bridge back in June, I had doubts about getting another dog. There were plans to do post-retirement traveling, a practice that doesn't easily include dogs. Besides, I dog sit Brady (Son's dog) and Tinker Bell (Daughter's dog) fairly often, and definitely enough to give me a dog "fix".
Well, I didn't have either dog for the past several weeks and I must say, the house felt pretty empty. Bogey can fulfill a lot of roles, but playing the part of dog, isn't one of them. So I started a dangerous practice...looking on Petfinder. My husband was thrilled since he's not comfortable with selecting gifts and told me, "Great! I'll just go out and get you a dog for your birthday/Christmas present!"
This made me nervous, so I started searching seriously. I saw plenty of sweet-faced dogs that made me smile, but non really tugged my heartstrings until I noticed this precious little face.
He and two litter mates were 10 week old breeder surrenders (Pekinese/poodle mix--Peekapoos!) to the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. They were scheduled to be at a Petco Adoption event in Kirkwood. Interesting. I traveled to Kirkwood where me and about 4 dozen other people came to see this little guy. I held him and fell in love.
I asked one of the volunteers how the puppies came into care. She explained that their group occasionally gets breeder surrenders because some breeders don't want too many male puppies as females are more marketable. In order to avoid the expense of caring for the "extra" males, some breeders kill them (I never heard of that before--what a horrible practice!). Fortunately, an arrangement came into being. Their group and other adoption groups would take the unwanted puppies instead and find homes for them. Thank goodness!
Well, you guessed it. This little guy came home with me. I believe Petco now feels I am one of their best customers.
So here I am, exhausted and wondering if I can keep up with all the puppy energy, training, and care. Did I do the right thing? I hope so. No other pup will replace my Indy boy, but in the words of Eugene O'Neill, it would be a poor tribute to his memory to never have another dog.
My new baby's name is Winston. He and I are busily establishing the home rules. He's smart and feisty and I sure hope he lets me win once in a while.
I guess in world history there have been cuter pups, but I surely don't know when. Okay, maybe I am slightly prejudiced on the matter. Please meet Winston!
