It should be absolutely no surprise that any list of gratitude I create would include the dogs currently sleeping in my office as I write this.
More specifically, though, I’m grateful that we hooked up with an awesome breeder.
When we moved to this home 20 years ago we were dogless, though we moved in bringing seven cats. Getting a dog — a pair actually — was on the agenda, and Kathy went to work. Doing due diligence — researching the breeds we were interested in, researching the breeders from whom we might get one — and reaching out to make contact. We’d fallen in love with a breed due to a specific Corgi (Beaux … a story for another day), and thus our search was focused.
One of the breeders who responded was local(ish), and after exchanging online pleasantries and informational phone calls we went for a visit. What we encountered was a home (not a kennel) full of happy and much loved, Corgis. We were more than happy to get on the floor with them all and experience the pack at their level.
We came home with Marcus.
Unfortunately Marcus had a slight problem. He was afraid of cats. Afraid as in he’d lose bladder control if one came within ten feet. Marcus’ fear of felines, previously unknown, was as severe as you could imagine. Clearly it was not to be — we were not the home for Marcus.
The breeder and her husband came to us this time and without question and without drama gave us Vera (pictured above, in 2004) instead. Vera — the one we really consider our “first” Corgi — moved right in without hesitation, and without regard to the other critters roaming the halls. (Marcus also found a very nice — and cat-free — home of his own. Everyone was much happier.)
That was 20 years ago. In the intervening time the breeder has become one of our closest personal friends, and the subsequent 6 dogs we’ve been privileged to care for have all come from her. We still visit regularly, often just for the opportunity to sit on the floor and get mobbed by the current “pack” living in her home.
We were incredibly fortunate to hook up with her, and as I said, I’m exceptionally grateful that she — and her dogs — are part of our lives.
Wonderful!