We watched as Cleo grew from a puppy who could fit on my chest to a puppy who could just about collapse my chest.
We enrolled her in puppy classes where she learned 'wait', 'sit', and 'take it' among other commands. We took her to dog parks and for walks whenever we could. At home we loved her and hugged her and played with her in the yard, and she loved every minute. Unfortunately for her, we couldn't play every minute of every day. We had to run errands and we wanted to enjoy some down time, never mind work. She therefore tried her paw playing with the cats, to no avail. The cats tolerated her to a point but then flipped up their respective tails and strolled to their kitty tower for a nap.
Joseph and I saw what was happening; we talked about a playmate for her. But Joseph wasn't as enthusiastic about a second puppy as he was about the first - not that he didn't want a second puppy mind you, but he was content with his little girl - and neither of us looked forward to the puppy issues like potty training, infections, and general training. At the same time, we realized that introducing another dog into a house where one dog already lives can be... challenging. If Cleo were to be overly territorial or protective, then the whole idea could be nixed.
Still, I wanted another puppy. I wasn't in a rush to find one, but I started some time after New Years 2006. Each day during my breaks at work and each night at home, I scanned craigslist and pets.com checking for pets. I saw rats and cats and bats. Okay, not bats. I read about goats and pigs and hens. There were snakes, lizards, tortoises. Even tarantulas. Ick. And of course there were dogs. Great Danes to Chihuahuas. Mutts of every breed.
I checked listings with and without photos. I even contacted a few people. But I had no luck. Until... At the beginning of February, I contacted a couple in Arlington, WA about a dog that they could not keep. The guy was in the navy and was about to be deployed to Iraq. And his girlfriend was pregnant and moving back to Ohio to be with her family. They said that they had rescued the dog from a kill shelter and didn't want to bring him back to that shelter.
After a few e-mails regarding the particulars, they sent a picture of their puppy, Buddy.
One look, and I was hooked. And when I showed Joseph, he was hooked too.
The only thing left to do was to see if Cleo accepted him. We planned a trip to Green Lake, which was approximately half way between our house and theirs. We would meet near the play fields.
When we arrived, we immediately recognized Buddy. Attached to him were a very young couple who were most likely no more than 20. We greeted each other and then let Cleo sniff Buddy's behind. She did. Then sniffed his face. She told him in dog speak not to piss her off and then she started sniffing the ground. We looked at Buddy's caretakers; they looked at us. We all shrugged. We all figured it was a success.
After transferring Buddy's crate and his other amenities to our car, we said goodbye and loaded the two dogs into the car. We rolled down the windows. Cleo took one side; Buddy took the other. And there's never been a problem since.
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