Surprises!

We are a family full of dog lovers.  It's all my parents' fault!  We always had a dog growing up and were taught to love, respect, and care for that dog to the best of our abilities.  Because of that life-lesson taught all four of us kids, we all have dogs and our children are all dog lovers as well.  We've all had our share of dogs - both mutts and purebreds.  One is not better than the other - a dog knows no snobbery of being from "good bloodlines" or just a simple "dog" with many bloodlines.  Each and every dog has been a faithful and well-loved companion for many years.


My mom and dad had a black lab, Chief, that they trained and showed.  He quickly became a champion and then moved on to more important duties; he became a therapy dog touching the lives of many sick, elderly, and family members of the sick and elderly.  Arriving at the hospital or nursing home, Chief would be greeted by name by all who saw him.  My parents were usually simply known as "Chief's owners".   Their part in this endeavor was valuable for Chief couldn't be there without them, but clearly Chief was the star.  Chief also became a stud dog.  My dad would carefully screen who Chief would be bred with and many litters of great labs were born.  One of those litters contained two chocolate labs that became a very important part of our family's lives.  A little boy my parents had and a beautiful female that became our beloved Missy.  Prince and Missy lived a good long life, 13+ years in fact.  In March it will be two years since Missy crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, just one month after Prince had done the same.


Another off-spring of Chief was King, a yellow lab my parents also had for a good many years.  Prince and King not only were well-loved family members, but they also were therapy dogs and stud dogs.  My younger sister has a puppy of King.  Midas is his name and he recently became a father of a litter of 10 beautiful black labs!    Thus - this story begins!


January 25th was a much anticipated day in our family.  My sister had bred Midas with a dog belonging to the same woman that had the mother to our Missy.  Midas's "girlfriend", Abbi, was not related to Missy's mother, but Midas is Missy's nephew.  These puppies were going to be related to Missy and I wanted one in the worst way.  Ten beautiful, healthy puppies were born - eight boys and 2 girls.  I had convinced Jon we "needed" a puppy - even though our Suzy is only 5-1/2 years old.  Our labs are hunting companions for Jon.  Suzy had ligament repair surgery to her back left leg a few years ago and is showing signs of arthritis.  We fear her days out hunting in the marsh are numbered.

Jon called to see if we were high enough up on the list to get one of those little girls.  He came home that night only to tell me that there were several people in front of us on the list who wanted females.  Our chances were pretty much zero to get a puppy.  I resigned myself to the fact that we were not going to get a puppy from the same bloodlines as Missy.  My parents were getting a puppy and I figured I could spend a lot of time playing with their pup. 

Thursday while at work I got a call from Jon.  He starts the conversation out with "Don't be upset with me for lying... but.... we are getting a puppy.  I wanted to surprise you, but then I decided you needed to know so you could be in on the excitement of waiting and figuring out a name."  WooHoo!!  That was the best news!  And Saturday we went to take a look at our new baby!! 

She is beautiful.  And smart.  And very curious.  She was the first one to figure out how to crawl out of the box.  I think we have picked out a name - Annie Oakley; Annie for short.  I know she will fit right into our lives.  Suzy will love her.  The cats will hate her, but only for a week or so.  Once they figure out she's not going anywhere they'll welcome her into the fold. 

We get to bring her home on March 15th - the start of my Spring Break!  How perfect.  I get to stay home for a whole week with her!  She will be coming home one week shy of exactly two years since Missy left us.  I know that's a sign of some kind.  Now all I have to hope for is that winter leaves us by March 15th.  Going outside with a puppy every couple of hours in the snow and cold doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.