Small Joys

In an effort to distract myself from my sorrow over Tyler, I have been looking online at local lab breeders.

I know that adoption is a wonderful option, but it's not one we feel comfortable pursuing at this time. Since we have many small children coming through here, plus another dog and cat, I simply cannot have a dog here that I don't know the exact temperament of. I can't take the chance of not knowing that its last owner beat it after it stole a plate of pasta, and it freaks out when it sees noodles, or some such obscure thing. Also, I want a dog younger than Baci, so he will be sure to be the alpha, rather than having an animal come in here that would try to be the boss of him, since that wouldn't be fair. Finally, with labs, you have to be so careful with their hips, and I really want to know who the parents are to be as sure as we can that dysplasia (sp?) doesn't run in its family.

Last night I came across a breeder that had two 4mo old chocolate labs, which I thought would be perfect. Already potty trained, large enough to easily keep up with Baci, yet still puppies. Sounds good, right? The price of these boys about make my tongue fall out of my head, but thank heavens for tax returns. I was all ready to start thinking about boy names when I found this from the breeder in my inbox this morning:

"I have abother option to offer you. In addition to the two chocolate boys, I have a 8 week old black female available. We call her Bubbles. She is the only puppy who survived in her litter. Her mother did not produce enough milk for her puppies and we lost them. The only issue is that Bubbles has a rear leg that is not quite right. She moves fine, is very playful and lovable. She gets along great with the big dogs. the vet examined her and feels she may have had her leg constrained in utero by another puppy or her umbilical cord. Her rear leg has a little excess skin over her knee and her joint is a little tight. She needs to have a little puppy physical therapy to help losen her leg up. This is involves just doing a few circular motions with her knee. The vet recommended swimming for her when things get warmer. Bubbles has not been AKC registered because I knew she wold be destined to be a pet. I own both of her parents. We are just asking that she finds a good home that can give her the attention she deserves. I can't give a hip guarantee on her but her mother is OFA hips Excellent, Elbows clear and her dad has PennHIP scores average for the lab breed."

Wheeee!!!! That would be a FUH-REE pedigree puppy!!!!! And, we had been thinking that we would like to try a girl this time, but it hadn't come up. What a wonderful option - we get to adopt a sweet baby girl who needs a home, yet get the luxery of knowing the parents and background. We are planning on picking her up on Valentine's Day. How appropriate! It's the perfect time to pick up the precious gift of a new family member.