A Valentine Story

My husband, Ken and I were traveling home by car. It was a long uneventful trip. I was searching the internet from my phone. An idea spun around in my mind.

“Honey, would you like to travel? You know, other parts of Europe, Asia, places in South America… (we'd just come back from Europe two months earlier.)

“We've been doing that for years.”

“...Or get a puppy?”

“No puppy! If we get a dog, let's get one that's house broken, and past that puppy chewing, and yapping stage.”

I immediately called the animal shelter close to our home.

“Any small dogs?” I asked the woman who answered the phone.

“Yes, we have a Lhasa Apso.”

“We can be there in three hours to see it. Can you tell me anything about the dog?”

“Wait a minute. Hold on.”

“I think we can get this dog.” I told my husband. “Right now, I'm on hold.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.” The woman from the shelter was back. “Someone just decided to take it.”

Disappointment.

But then I remembered my niece's dog, Sasha. So cute and well-behaved. I checked with area breeders, and by the time we arrived home from our trip, we were proud owners of a mini schnauzer puppy, Max.

The next day, we drove to see the puppy and his canine parents. We weren't disappointed. However, there was one puppy left in the litter that didn't have a home. The breeder, picked him up and laid him in my lap.

“No. I'm sorry. We just can't have two.” It broke my heart.

Now we have adopted both Max Cooper into our family. Happy Valentine's!