Forever Home

She’s little.  She’s all white.  And, now, she has her forever home.  St. Patrick’s Day was a good day to drive to Gail’s house, five miles south of Pueblo.  Bryan and I started out at 9 am with a mist in the air.  By the time we drove through Colorado Springs, the clouds had lifted and sunshine burned off the remaining snow.

Breakfast in Pueblo at the Southwest Grill brought us closer to our goal.  Five more miles to meet the object of our affection – the white miniature schnauzer we were on our way to pick up. And, then, we were at Gail’s house and in her front office.

Gail is the breeder of schnauzers, miniature and teacup.  Years ago, Larry and I bought two miniature schnauzers from Gail.  Liza Jane came home before Libby  We wanted Liza Jane to be the alpha dog, so we had her a month before we picked up Libby (Liberty was her name but we called her Libby).  Daughter #2 Jane went with me to get Liza Jane; Liza Jane bonded with Jane so much that when Jane would come to the house for a visit, Liza Jane would just about go through the front door to get to her.  Libby was supposed to be Larry’s dog, so when we picked her up, she sat on his lap all of the way home.  Bonding with Larry was difficult for Libby.  Her only experience with people was Gail and, of course, Larry was a man, making her bonding with him very difficult.  It eventually happened, though, and when he passed, Libby had a terrible time grieving.

When we arrived at Gail’s place, the pure white schnauzer was in the enclosure used, I assume, for the meet-and-greet of other buyers.  As I reached down to pick up the little white dog, she ran to Gail at the other end of the enclosure – a good sign that Gail is good to her dogs.

While I signed all of the required papers, Bryan held the little white dog; then, we took her to the car with us.  Even though we had a dog seat for her to be in while driving back home, Bryan said he wanted to have her ride on his lap.  She stopped shivering and draped herself over his leg, in the same way that Libby would drape herself over Larry’s leg when he slept in a chair.  I was so pleased that she seemed to have no problem with him because he is a man.

On the way home, Bryan and I talked about her name; we had talked about how we would know her name when we saw her.  It WAS Laci, but I always like to give my dog’s their name, myself.  I had narrowed her new name possibilities to River (that I really liked), Patty (we picked her up on St. Patrick’s Day), and Lady (if she was the lady that she appeared to be in her photographs).  She was, indeed, a lady, so Lady became her name.

Bryan had another suggestion.  Because I’d had a Liza Jane (two names), he suggested adding the name Pat to her name.  Lady Pat.  I agreed.  Then, sister Clara and daughter #1 HKB weighed in, suggesting Lady Patricia (the female form of Patrick) or Lady Pat for short.

Lady has settled into the house and her beds.  She sticks to me like glue and wants to be held a lot – that’s good.  Sleeps all night on my bed, of course.  She “goes to bed” by eight or nine p.m.  It is a little hard for her because I don’t retire until midnight or later.  I don’t try to keep her up longer than the time she needs to be sleeping.

For anyone who purchases a retired breeder dog such as Lady Patricia, you need to know that they know nothing about riding in cars, sleeping on beds, walking on grass, etc., going outside to “take care of business.”  They have not been socialized.  We found this to be the case with Liza Jane and Libby, and it is repeated with Lady Patricia.  It is very like having a puppy – a four-year-old puppy.  But, she has already shown that she has learned her new name, learned what “go outside” means (even though she doesn’t really know what to do outside), and learned that when she comes in from the outside she has to have her feet cleaned.

I think she is a good fit for her forever home.  For sure, she is already loved!

Be safe and be well.

The Cranky Crone

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