dog stuff

Last January, my daughter's 12 month old dachshund, Cookie, disappeared. It was very traumatic and we looked high and low for Cookie, but we never found him. Jane was heartbroken and I promised her we would get her another dog. She and Cookie had been absolutely inseparable.

We already had two dogs when we got Cookie. Fiat is our insane (but I love him) Jack Ruseell mix and Mabel is our very ugly (sorry Mabel, but that underbite....), very sweet and easy black pug mix. Although I missed Cookie and was really sad for Jane went he disappeared, I was sort of seeing the logic in sticking with just the two dogs, but she was just sooooo sad about Cookie, so I broke down and agreed to replace Cookie with a new puppy.

She decided she wanted a Border Collie puppy and in a moment of insanity in late February, we got her a Border Collie puppy from a farm in South Knox County.

It became clear almost immediately that while Jane had said she wanted a Border Collie puppy, all she really wanted was to have tiny, sweet Cookie back. Jane showed little to no interest in the new puppy, whom she named Duffy, and I wasn't giving the poor guy much attention either. I did not feel good about this situation. Duffy needed far more attention than anyone was giving him (raising a puppy properly takes a lot of time and work). So I sat Jane down and explained that we had mad a mistake getting a rambunctious, working breed puppy like Duffy when we were already so busy with our two other dogs and school and horses and work,etc. I convinced her that she should let me try to find a home for Duffy.

So I began asking everyone I knew if they wanted a Border Collie puppy. He's very pretty in a classic BC way (they have always been one of my favorite breeds) and I talked him up, but no one wanted him. NO ONE. I tried for a month to find him a home without any luck.

Finally, about a month ago, I decided that the fates were telling me that Duffy was meant to be my dog and that since this was the case, I'd better start giving him the training and attention he needed.

So I did.

Now, a month later, he sits, walks on a leash and is housetrained. He is only 6 months old, so he still has manners to learn, but it's clear that he is going to be an awesome dog. He's scary smart (most Border Collies are) and actually remarkably calm for a dog this age, especially of this breed. Of course, compared to insanely hyper Fiat-the-Jack-Russell, almost any dog seems calm ;-)

I gave him his first bath this morning and he stood stock still and was a perfect gentleman. Now his coat is all shiny and he's sound asleep because the whole bathing seems to have exhausted him.

He reminds me in size and shape and general personality of the best dog my parents ever had, Abu, who was clearly a Border Collie mix because he looked just like an all-white BC. He was just a terrific dog. Duffy REALLY reminds me of Abu.

I still probably don't need three dogs. Three dogs is a lot of work and they are expensive, etc, etc, etc. But I am really glad we decided to keep Duffy.

Sometimes really good things come to you in unexpected ways, even when you try to push them away ;-)