Ode to Pippy

I must take a minute to say just how much we love our dog. This blog focuses on our first born child (and future children, when the time comes), but I have to be honest. Even though I deny it now and laugh at myself, Pippy was truly my first baby.

Nelson and I had been married about 2 months when I started really wanting a dog. There were a few reasons. I had lost my childhood dog the year before and had taken it really hard. Nelson was also traveling for work, sometimes for a week at a time, and I didn't like being home alone. Then, one day I watched a show on Animal Planet about shelter dogs and how many perfectly good dogs are put down every day, just because no one adopts them. (PLEASE ONLY ADOPT SHELTER AND RESCUE DOGS!!! No breeders and NEVER FROM A PET STORE!! Puppy mills are horrible, horrible places. California is trying to make it illegal to sell dogs at pet stores right now, which I think is phenomenal!!) Anyway, poor Nelson got this call in Seattle with me sobbing so hard I could barely speak, thinking something horrible had happened, but I managed to tell him about the show and told him that I NEEDED a dog.

We started going to different Humane Societies around Portland and Salem. We met with a couple of different labs and one pit bull that we really liked. Minor detail I need to mention here; we were living in an apartment that did not take pets. We didn't have any kind of yard for a big dog and the dog couldn't be a barker. We also knew we were going to have children some day and that we needed a gentle dog that was good with kids. But, we didn't qualify for a lot of the rescue agencies, because they require you to have a yard and they insist on a background check with your landlords to make sure you won't be bringing the dog right back. I kept telling Nelson that when we found our dog, we would just know. God would tell us.

So, we talked to my parents. My birthday was coming up and all I wanted was a dog. We are definitely a dachshund family and I knew in my heart that that was what I really wanted. My parents dachshund was from a rescue society, so my dad started looking on their website to see what they had available in our area. This was a Friday evening. He found a small post, with no picture, for a young black dachshund named Pippy. He immediately called the Willamette Humane Society and left a message saying that we would be there when they opened to meet with Pippy.

The next day, we went straight there, but arrived about 10 minutes after they opened. We went right to her kennel and were devastated to see a note on it that read she was meeting with a potential family. Daddy went to the front desk to complain and the woman immediately appologized and said, yes, we had first priority, we had left the message the night before. When the other family found out, they were MAD. The woman started freaking out and yelling at the front desk person. But, we were told to go to the meeting room to meet Pippy.

Pippy came into the room, walked right up to me, climbed up onto my lap and put her head on my shoulder and looked at me with her big brown eyes and I knew we'd found our dog. She was so cute and sweet with a shorter nose than most doxies, so she looked like a permanent puppy. After some nasty remarks from the other family, my dad adopted Pippy for us.

We had no idea just how great of a dog we were getting. She is the sweetest, friendliest, most laid back dog EVER. Everyone loves her. She is cuddly and so easy to manage. Since she was approximately 1 1/2 when we got her, she was pretty much housebroken and didn't do much chewing. She tolerated me dressing her up. (I really needed a baby sooner...) She loved/s walks and never growls, bites or anything like that. Just lots of licks and kisses!

She transitioned to having a baby in the house without any problems what so ever. We were worried, because she was definitely the center of attention, even sleeping in our bed. But, she wasn't phased by any aspect of having a new person in the house who got more attention. She was gentle and sweet and did a really good job of amusing herself when we couldn't play with her.

Now that Kalaya is older, they are best buds! Kalaya's first sign was dog and one of her first words as well. She throws the ball for Pippy and plays with her. She will get Pippy's leash and sign for a walk. And, Pippy is getting lots of rewards of dropped food and snacks from the high chair! (how do toddler parents without a dog keep up with clean up??) And they love to sing and play the harmonica together!

We are so thankful for such a sweet, lovable dog and we hope for may more years together as a family! We love you Pippy!

Pippy and Kalaya's first meeting