Gift Number 21 of One Thousand

Number 21 on my list of A Thousand Gifts is too big to not have a blog post all it’s own. This “gift” is just that – a pure gift!

The back story -

A couple of months ago, I took our family pet, Colby, to the groomer. He was in desperate need of a professional groomer’s touch! I can groom him well enough, but there is something about the professional touch.

So I took him back to his original groomer, after failed attempts at finding a groomer closer and/or less expensive. The original groomer also happened to be the lady we got him from.

We (my husband and myself) had been talking for a while about adding a second pooch back into the family. When I took Colby to the groomer, I casually asked if she was still active with the local Cocker Spaniel Rescue. She said she still had contacts, but was not active since her knee replacement. To which I mentioned that I was hoping she was active because we were looking to add a another dog to the family. She proceeded to tell me about Tyra, one of her retiring show dogs. Tyra hadn’t been able to be shown for two years because of some mysterious bald patches on her back side. Due to age and the bald patches, Tyra could no longer be shown or be bred. Tyra needed a home, would we be interested?

Would we be intersted??!!??

How much would the adoption/purchase fee be, I asked. To which, Ms. A. replied “Nothing. Just get her spayed.”

That sweetened the deal tremendously! We had been looking at Cocker Spaniel puppies in the newspaper ($200-$600), the pet store (which we know is a total NO! NO!) wanted about $400. We checked with a couple of other rescues that had listings for dogs on Petfinder.com. They wouldn’t adopt to us because we have children under the age of 10!! WHAT?? That’s ridiculous!

So…

Of course we were interested – Tyra is Colby’s full sister! They are from the same litter. The disposition of the dogs from that litter is unmatched!!

So, a few weeks ago, I brought Tyra home for us to “try on”. We had to make sure the dogs were going to get along. We had to make sure that Tyra was going to tolerate being a family dog in a large busy family with toddlers.

She worked out beautifully…

Then she came into season. So I called the groomer/owner/breeder/handler to see if she could board and protect Tyra until the “season” passed. I did not want puppies. It was agreed that I would bring her back and she would finish her season there.

Husband and I went on a bike trip. I got hurt. I spent the last couple of weeks recovering. I still have a ways to go, but I can type some with my left hand now. Progress.

I called on Monday to check on my girl. No answer – left a message.

Owner/breeder/handler/groomer shows dogs, so I wasn’t worried when she didn’t call me back that day or yesterday.

I called again this morning… hoping to catch one of the other groomers in the shop. To my surprise I got Ms. A. herself! YAY!

Could I pick up Tyra this evening?

YOU BET!

Got home about an hour ago.

Gift Number 21 of One Thousand…

Home to Stay!