Well, I never imagined that this would happen.
Last year I gave some thought to adding to my family -- no, not a child.
I thought about it and thought. Am I ready for this responsibility. It will be a lot more work. Then a friend of mine said that I need to call Luann. Now, I don't know Luann but I called her and visited her at her home. And still, I wasn't sure that I was ready.
But, my heart was won over. I simply couldn't resist -- must be my biological clock -- as many of you learned yesterday, I'll be 50 next week and the only "kids" I've had are my cats.
Well, now I have Bentley. Apparently a female pure bred chocolate lab got together with a Bad Boy Border Collie and produced a litter of 10, yes TEN puppies. The owner was going to have 7 of them put down -- but Luann came to the rescue. Out of 10 puppies, there was only 1 boy. Well, Luann and her sisters proceeded to bottle feed these babies on a regular schedule (not an easy task). I met the 3 that Luann had at her home when they were about 3 weeks old. They were so cute and cuddly. And I fell for Bentley right away. Over the next 2 weeks I went over to Luann's home and helped with feeding. By the time they were 5 weeks old, they were already on solid food and Bentley came home with me.
I had a lot of time to prepare for Bentley -- I cleared out the puppy section at a Petsmart. I realized as I drove home (the nearest Petsmart is 3 hours away - I had a lot of thinking time), there aren't as many cat aisles or options for cats as there are for dogs. I spent a whopping $1,000 -- oh dear, this was a sign of things to come.
And YES, I humiliated my poor little boy on his first Christmas.
Bentley is now 9 months old, weighs in at about 60 lbs, exuberant, enthusiastic, fun, good natured, too smart for his own good, and a wonderful companion. Right now he is curled up next to me -- his favorite spot in my office.
The wonderful thing about Modoc County is that this is DOG COUNTRY. Everyone here either has dogs or loves dogs. He comes to the office with me everyday. He goes around town with me everyday. And, he is great ice breaker no matter where I go. People are immediately put at ease -- after all, how can you be uptight with a squirming, wiggling, licking, lovable mass of puppy.
So, even though I vividly recall my terror as I drove home from Luann's house that Wednesday afternoon thinking "what have I done -- I have a dog!", and even as I still wipe out the dog aisle at Petsmart buying treats, toys and other interesting dog items, Bentley has become my daily companion and my AMBASSADOR OF GOOD WILL at my business.
