Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Missing Piece



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.
Grace Martinez
2 Dogs & A Cat, est. 2001
www.2dogsandacat.net
425-379-6136

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