It’s been 17 years since I had a puppy. Bella was my first dog. My husband & I got her from a man giving
away free puppies. She was our “entry”
child after being newly-married. She
reminded me of “Little Ann” from Where the Red Fern Grows. We did everything wrong. We let her sleep with us, get on the couch,
and eat our leftovers. We didn’t
socialize her enough – that was our biggest mistake. A year later we got Reno from a shelter, he
was about 4 months old. He was awkward, and didn’t know how to control his
moving limbs. He was the newfound energy
Bella needed. She quickly showed him the
ropes and we continued with our bad habits.
It became apparent that we needed to change our ways when we moved to
another state and they showed signs of aggression. We found a great boarding facility that
taught us how to be better parents. Soon
after, moving and “fixing” our parental issues, we decided it was time to start
a human family. But we felt bad about
commuting and leaving our dogs home alone.
That’s when I decided to start a pet care business. It was the perfect scenario, one of us would
be home with our dogs and child & the other would pet sit. Since then we have had two other human
children. Bella & Reno lived long,
happy, meaningful lives and sadly passed away about 3 years ago. It took us over a year to decide whether our
hearts would be open to having another dog.
We visited the shelters for some time, never finding a good match –
until one day, my friend called me & told me MY DOG was at the shelter. We quickly rushed over to find a shaggy, disheveled
mini-Schnauzer who had been abandoned most of his life. Bentley was 4 at the time and made the
perfect addition to our family – he was full of spunk and our middle daughter
immediately claimed him as hers. Bentley
is now 6 and we have been looking for some time for another dog. Our family has not felt complete. I randomly saw a Facebook post about some
puppies needing a home and knew THAT puppy was mine. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of
“Charlotte” aka Charley, a mixed Lab/Sharpei.
She is in Texas at a rescue and should be transported to us by
February. I know in my heart that she is
the missing piece. Bella & Reno can
never be replaced, but Charley can fill the missing piece in my family.
