Picking out your child must be carefully considered

Two Thousand and Five was not a good year for many, besides losing Bill and my brother, Chappy lost Courtney.  When we had last seen each other in Chicago, the year I was there with Bill, he mentioned he was not the "marrying" type and I suggested it was because he was married to his job and mother. I know, sick sounding isn't it, but it was the truth.

I later learned, Courtney was ill and typical of Chappy, the women in his life, with the exception of his mom, were never priority.  She was ill and he preferred to work.  He continued to travel as he did when we were married and  history repeated itself.  He was traveling with a co-worker who lived in Connecticut. He was living in New Hampshire.  Courtney took ill and Chappy was secretly involved with the woman who he was traveling with.  They ended up getting married and have been married for seven years this year, 2013.  He has quit working for the company he had worked for for over twenty years this past year.  I'm betting, history is repeating itself, that seven year itch has struck.  I could be wrong, but he has continually repeated history with every woman he has been with.  Courtney died in May of 2005 of the same disease Bill had.  Ironic, the paths that were chosen ended in a similar fate.

In early 2006, I started searching for a four legged companion again. I had too much time to myself.  I had hired two women in the office, an assistant for me and an adjuster, but the office was still small.  We were busy, claims were coming in with no time now to sit and wait for the phone to ring.

I started my search for my fur ball online.  I sure missed Precious and it had been over a year since I had put her down.  I liked the freedom of coming and going with no obligation to a dog, but I missed sweeping.  My Kirby was feeling neglected as I didn't pull it out every day to exercise it.

Having a dog, is like having a child.  There  is a huge commitment. Unlike a child, once you potty train your pet, they can't open the door to their play land to take care of business, unless you install a doggie door and then, I don't understand how other animals who come upon this mystery door realize it was not meant for them.  Posting a do not enter sign is not going to keep them from entering your home to hibernate

Your pet does not know how to bathe themselves or brush their teeth. Requiring time spent to maintain them and vet bills to keep them current on shots and required health care. Now, I've had pets who believe they know how to bathe themselves by rolling in the murky waters and then licking themselves clean, but it is not the same. They don't mind their stench that makes your eyes water.

Pets, like children can be taught, right from wrong, but like children, when you are not looking, they will do what they want and some times, right in front of you.  They do not know how to feed themselves properly and if they do, they have a hard time understanding portion control or that some items are  not meant to be consumed like their feces.

Unlike children, you can't take them with you all the time, so your life can only be enjoyed in spurts, depending on how long they can control their B&B (bladder and bowels.) All dog owners understand the importance of a B&B check in.  Nothing worse than coming home to a B&B catastrophe on your Persian rug.

Unlike children, they give you unconditional love, even after you rub their nose in a B&B incident! They want to be around you, unlike your child who is a teenager and can't stand to be in the same universe as you. They are only demanding of your time to play with them and take them for walks, they do not demand you to buy them every thing they see at the pet boutique or do they feel the need to wear the latest in fashion to compete with the others bitches on the block.

While some puppies can get bored and wreck havoc on a new pair of stilettos you just bought, most learn over time, unless they have separation issues which require counseling, they can get by without finding a project to chew up for you to be proud of when you come home.

I have always had pets, except when I was married to Killer.  He didn't care for animals, probably because he could be one himself.  My first dog that I owned on my own was a Cocker Spaniel.   Lesson learned, do not buy a dog on cuteness value, it is never a wise choice.  Research the breed to make sure you are compatible.  Similar to picking out your mate.  Not all dogs are your match in heaven.

Tina and I were living together when I had this great idea, "Let's get a dog!"  OK, it was more spontaneous than that, we were at the mall, I saw this dog, played with it for all of ten minutes and bought it, like a coat I could return, but this purchase had no return policy nor did it come with a gift receipt that you could exchange it for some thing different, like a Cuisinart for your kitchen counter.

She was a cinnamon color and I named her Cinnamon, like any dog, it needed a middle name, so Tina and I shared the same middle name, Marie, the puppy was crowned Cinnamon Marie Henshaw, we even shared the same initials!  I had never been responsible for training puppies we had.  Lesson two, training requires time and patience. Dogs do not learn on the first B&B that this is not acceptable.

Cinnamon was a handful and I could not keep her.  She needed to be with a family that was home and able to exercise her, so I eventually found her a new home with children.  Lesson learned, do not take on a project when you have no time to devote to it.

Precious came in to my life, not because I chose her, she chose me. I would not have chosen a large dog, I'd never had one before, but she was placed in my life when I needed her the most. She was two at the time and fully trained.  There was no puppy training, no vet bills, no B&B breaks, she belonged to the neighbors, she just lived at my house.  It was a perfect  answer to a much greater need. She eventually became my responsibility when we moved to Georgia and the family allowed her to go with me, but I wasn't working at the time and we were constant companions. The adventures we went on still linger in my memories. Like any good mom, I have lots of pictures of my adopted child and when I lost her to old age, she took a piece of my heart with her.

So my quest to find this furry companion was not approached without much consideration and research.  I spent weeks researching breeds and I was sure I wanted another lab.  I studied many dogs on line at shelters and would make a list of the ones I would take into consideration.  For once, I could choose my family and this child would be as close to perfect as possible.

With list in hand, I'd venture off looking for my future child.  I always took a handful of treats as all children can be bought with candy or in this case, milk bones.  I looked at all kinds of labs, yellows, like Precious, black,browns, it didn't matter, I was looking for the one with a connection to my soul.

I saw Puppers on line and I have to be honest, he was the ugliest dog I had ever laid eyes on.  He is a mix of springer spaniel and lab.  Coming toward you, you see Springer Spaniel, leaving you, all Labrador. He is white with brown patches, the spaniel in him.  What was so ugly about him is he appeared to be albino.  His hair was very sparse on his face and his skin was a bright pink.  His eyes were pink and his nose and snout were very pinkish.  He apparently was camera shy as they had to hold his head up, which caused his eyes to be peeked, like a person who has had one too many face lifts.

I drove to the shelter and started making my rounds.  The dogs were wild, barking and jumping, "Pick me, Pick me!"  As I rounded the corner, here sat the ugly dog.  He wasn't barking, jumping or showing off, he just laid there, on the floor with that pink face staring at me.

"Hello, Ugly Dog."  I felt sorry for him, who was going to adopt this animal with the little head and the big body as well as the pink scary eyes.  He wouldn't take the bone.   The other dogs either took them and ate them wanting more, or took them and stored it for later.  Puppers, as he was known on his cell block, wasn't buying in to the "Look what I got for you, Big Sweetie" game.  Hell, I wouldn't either if you just called me ugly dog!

I asked to see him and they placed us in a room.  He was a little more playful, but still hesitant to show me his stuff.  I turned him over on his back and he was not resistant, good sign, he was calm.  I took him outside and he followed the fence line like Precious did and did his business in a pile of leaves.  Note to self, this should have been very important for me to notice.

I went back seven times to see this dog as well as others and I decided no one would adopt the albino hair ball if I didn't.  I thought he was a she as she always squatted when she relieved herself, I was surprised she was a he.  I know I rolled him over, but I wasn't taking a parts inventory at the time.  Bad mother,isn't that the first thing a new mommy does?  Checks for toes, fingers and parts, parts being first! Let the adventure begin, I adopted my first child!

Puppers Klebusch

Chappy had sought an annulment to our marriage based on this fact alone. He had said that I had kept the fact  that I could not have children from him and the church approved the annulment.  He knew I didn't want children and neither did he, but he wanted an annulment to get married again in the church.  I could have children, I just chose to adopt and I was the proud mom of a 45 pound fur ball named Puppers.  I kept his jail cell name and he's been a gem ever since!