applesmom
04-26-2007, 04:43 AM
“Carol I have the perfect puppy for you!” “Thanks Pat, I appreciate it but I don’t want a puppy. I don’t think I ever want another dog. I can’t put myself through that heartache again”.
The National Specialty shows are always a great place to renew old friendships and make new ones. Pat and I had met a couple of years earlier at the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America National Specialty Show in San Francisco. Tori our extremely promising 2-year-old dog had made his debut at this show and had attracted a lot of attention with his animated ring presence and excellent confirmation. The dog Pat had shown had impressed me with his near perfect performance as he gained even more points toward his OTCH. We became friends even though we lived at opposite ends of the country.
Tori was a product of a carefully planned breeding between our Champion female, Clover and a soon to be Dual Champion sire; whose accomplishments and career we’d been privileged to witness and take part in personally. Tori’s confirmation was as close to the standard as any breeder could possibly hope for and his bird finding abilities, trainability and eagerness to please were in the same category. A true dual champion in the making! The breeding that produced him was also our final breeding. All of our hopes and dreams as breeders were pinned on this “once in a lifetime” dog! After Tori’s litter was born, we’d made the decision that due to the increasing problem of unwanted pets; we would no longer be breeding GSP’s. Though we planned to remain active in competition with Tori.
While he was still in the whelping box, Tori and I developed a special bond. We became not only dog and owner but best friends!. We spent hours together every day in obedience and field training as the bond between us continued to grow. All we had to do now was continue his training and allow him to mature enough to finish his show championship. By then his field training would be complete and he’d move on to field trials where he would earn the coveted Dual Champion title as well as his indisputable title of beloved pet, companion and hunting dog!
Sadly this was not to be. At only 4 years of age and well on his way to the coveted Dual Champion title, Tori was diagnosed with a rare and always fatal disease. The months between the first symptoms and the final diagnosis were agonizing. It was unbearable to watch my formerly happy healthy pal suffer through bouts of illness and return to seemingly normal health, only to be stricken down again and again. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, there was no choice but to end his suffering.
As I held him in my arms while he drew his last breath, tears running down my cheeks onto his painfully thin and now horribly bloated body; I vowed I would never, never allow myself to become this close to any animal ever again!
The grapevine in the dog world is an active one! Breeders from all over called to offer their condolences, many of them offering to send me a puppy when I felt I was ready. My reply to all of them was the same! “Thanks, but I don’t want a puppy. I don’t think I ever want another dog. I can’t put myself through that heartache again”.
As the months passed Pat and I talked often. She kept me up to date on the happenings in the world of dogs on her end of the country and particularly German Shorthaired Pointers. One of her dogs, already a Search and Rescue dog, an Obedience Trial Champion, Tracking Dog Excellent and Show Champion was beginning to excel in the Hunting Dog Tests recently sanctioned by AKC and was close to getting his Master Hunter Title. His offspring were doing well in all phases of competition including the Hunting Dog Tests. He’d been given to her as a gift at a time when she didn’t want any more dogs. Yet he’d turned out to be her once in a lifetime dog!
Each time we talked, she’d mention puppies and each time my reply was the same.
My excuses to myself though were becoming weaker and weaker. I’d gone from; I don’t want a puppy. I don’t think I ever want another dog, I can’t put myself through that heartache again”, to “I might have an obedience dog someday” to, “Pat’s dog is producing some fantastic puppies, maybe someday” etc. In other words, I was beginning to weaken; but I couldn’t get past the fear of investing so much love and energy into another dog only to have it end in heartbreak!
At 11PM one Sunday night Pat called. “Got a pencil and paper?” She asked. I’m sending you a very special puppy. This puppy will do it all!”
She then proceeded to give me the flight number, time and directions to the terminal to pick up my puppy! His sire was her American and Canadian CH, OTCH, TDX, and MH. The dam was a lovely Champion that I’d casually mentioned that she reminded me of Tori’s mom, Clover. He was arriving at 6AM in the morning and had already begun the long journey to the airport!
There wasn’t much I could do about it now, but go pick the puppy up. After all I couldn’t leave a helpless 9-week-old puppy stranded at the airport. My first thought was that I would send him right back home on the first available flight. That might be a while though; as the airlines wouldn’t be flying dogs in and out of Phoenix for the rest of the summer due to heat restrictions.
It was a long sleepless night as I tossed and turned in my bed. Emotions bounced around in my head as often as the sheep I was hopelessly trying to count. They ranged from anger, to excitement, to sadness, and even to pity for a poor unwanted puppy that deserved a better home than the one he’d been sent to! I love all animals but it seemed a part of my heart was missing. A part someone else might have to offer this puppy that I no longer could offer to any dog!
The drive to the airport continued to be filled with mixed emotions. They simply wouldn’t settle down. Inside the terminal 3 men were squatted down beside a small dog crate; inside was my puppy. Suddenly I didn’t want to see him, send him back I wanted to say, it’s just too much responsibility to take on right now! One of the men opened the door and gently coaxed Howdy out onto the hanger floor.
“What an ugly puppy” was my first thought! Huge ears that reminded me more of a Basset Hound, feet like a Great Dane, long legs like a Greyhound and his coloring was dreadful. Solid liver and white-ticked body with very little white, not a large liver spot on him and a blaze that ran down his face and across his nose! “There’s got to be a mistake I thought; or someone is playing a joke on me”! The puppies we’d bred suffered from their share of “puppy uglies” but this pup had the worst case I’d ever seen!
On top of the awkwardness he didn’t come out of the crate like a typical bouncy GSP puppy. He exited slowly and deliberately, neither afraid nor excited; he was just—there! Picking him up, I suddenly felt terribly sad. Sad that this puppy wasn’t going to have the loving home he deserved. Ravaged by pangs of guilt, I gave him the usual puppy hugs and baby talk and put him in his crate in the van. All the way home I talked to him telling him how sorry I was that I couldn’t be more loving and that he deserved someone who would be able to give him more love than I was capable of.
Arriving home he didn’t seem to have believed a word I’d said. He happily greeted Tori’s aging mom Clover, found a spot in the back yard to properly relieve himself, chased a few butterflies, and settled in to take a nap. Right in the middle of the living room floor! This pup was certainly not traumatized by the long drive and subsequent flight. And he was definitely no clinging vine that was going to be dependent on humans to be happy. “Well! He’s certainly no Tori”, I said to myself!
The National Specialty shows are always a great place to renew old friendships and make new ones. Pat and I had met a couple of years earlier at the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America National Specialty Show in San Francisco. Tori our extremely promising 2-year-old dog had made his debut at this show and had attracted a lot of attention with his animated ring presence and excellent confirmation. The dog Pat had shown had impressed me with his near perfect performance as he gained even more points toward his OTCH. We became friends even though we lived at opposite ends of the country.
Tori was a product of a carefully planned breeding between our Champion female, Clover and a soon to be Dual Champion sire; whose accomplishments and career we’d been privileged to witness and take part in personally. Tori’s confirmation was as close to the standard as any breeder could possibly hope for and his bird finding abilities, trainability and eagerness to please were in the same category. A true dual champion in the making! The breeding that produced him was also our final breeding. All of our hopes and dreams as breeders were pinned on this “once in a lifetime” dog! After Tori’s litter was born, we’d made the decision that due to the increasing problem of unwanted pets; we would no longer be breeding GSP’s. Though we planned to remain active in competition with Tori.
While he was still in the whelping box, Tori and I developed a special bond. We became not only dog and owner but best friends!. We spent hours together every day in obedience and field training as the bond between us continued to grow. All we had to do now was continue his training and allow him to mature enough to finish his show championship. By then his field training would be complete and he’d move on to field trials where he would earn the coveted Dual Champion title as well as his indisputable title of beloved pet, companion and hunting dog!
Sadly this was not to be. At only 4 years of age and well on his way to the coveted Dual Champion title, Tori was diagnosed with a rare and always fatal disease. The months between the first symptoms and the final diagnosis were agonizing. It was unbearable to watch my formerly happy healthy pal suffer through bouts of illness and return to seemingly normal health, only to be stricken down again and again. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, there was no choice but to end his suffering.
As I held him in my arms while he drew his last breath, tears running down my cheeks onto his painfully thin and now horribly bloated body; I vowed I would never, never allow myself to become this close to any animal ever again!
The grapevine in the dog world is an active one! Breeders from all over called to offer their condolences, many of them offering to send me a puppy when I felt I was ready. My reply to all of them was the same! “Thanks, but I don’t want a puppy. I don’t think I ever want another dog. I can’t put myself through that heartache again”.
As the months passed Pat and I talked often. She kept me up to date on the happenings in the world of dogs on her end of the country and particularly German Shorthaired Pointers. One of her dogs, already a Search and Rescue dog, an Obedience Trial Champion, Tracking Dog Excellent and Show Champion was beginning to excel in the Hunting Dog Tests recently sanctioned by AKC and was close to getting his Master Hunter Title. His offspring were doing well in all phases of competition including the Hunting Dog Tests. He’d been given to her as a gift at a time when she didn’t want any more dogs. Yet he’d turned out to be her once in a lifetime dog!
Each time we talked, she’d mention puppies and each time my reply was the same.
My excuses to myself though were becoming weaker and weaker. I’d gone from; I don’t want a puppy. I don’t think I ever want another dog, I can’t put myself through that heartache again”, to “I might have an obedience dog someday” to, “Pat’s dog is producing some fantastic puppies, maybe someday” etc. In other words, I was beginning to weaken; but I couldn’t get past the fear of investing so much love and energy into another dog only to have it end in heartbreak!
At 11PM one Sunday night Pat called. “Got a pencil and paper?” She asked. I’m sending you a very special puppy. This puppy will do it all!”
She then proceeded to give me the flight number, time and directions to the terminal to pick up my puppy! His sire was her American and Canadian CH, OTCH, TDX, and MH. The dam was a lovely Champion that I’d casually mentioned that she reminded me of Tori’s mom, Clover. He was arriving at 6AM in the morning and had already begun the long journey to the airport!
There wasn’t much I could do about it now, but go pick the puppy up. After all I couldn’t leave a helpless 9-week-old puppy stranded at the airport. My first thought was that I would send him right back home on the first available flight. That might be a while though; as the airlines wouldn’t be flying dogs in and out of Phoenix for the rest of the summer due to heat restrictions.
It was a long sleepless night as I tossed and turned in my bed. Emotions bounced around in my head as often as the sheep I was hopelessly trying to count. They ranged from anger, to excitement, to sadness, and even to pity for a poor unwanted puppy that deserved a better home than the one he’d been sent to! I love all animals but it seemed a part of my heart was missing. A part someone else might have to offer this puppy that I no longer could offer to any dog!
The drive to the airport continued to be filled with mixed emotions. They simply wouldn’t settle down. Inside the terminal 3 men were squatted down beside a small dog crate; inside was my puppy. Suddenly I didn’t want to see him, send him back I wanted to say, it’s just too much responsibility to take on right now! One of the men opened the door and gently coaxed Howdy out onto the hanger floor.
“What an ugly puppy” was my first thought! Huge ears that reminded me more of a Basset Hound, feet like a Great Dane, long legs like a Greyhound and his coloring was dreadful. Solid liver and white-ticked body with very little white, not a large liver spot on him and a blaze that ran down his face and across his nose! “There’s got to be a mistake I thought; or someone is playing a joke on me”! The puppies we’d bred suffered from their share of “puppy uglies” but this pup had the worst case I’d ever seen!
On top of the awkwardness he didn’t come out of the crate like a typical bouncy GSP puppy. He exited slowly and deliberately, neither afraid nor excited; he was just—there! Picking him up, I suddenly felt terribly sad. Sad that this puppy wasn’t going to have the loving home he deserved. Ravaged by pangs of guilt, I gave him the usual puppy hugs and baby talk and put him in his crate in the van. All the way home I talked to him telling him how sorry I was that I couldn’t be more loving and that he deserved someone who would be able to give him more love than I was capable of.
Arriving home he didn’t seem to have believed a word I’d said. He happily greeted Tori’s aging mom Clover, found a spot in the back yard to properly relieve himself, chased a few butterflies, and settled in to take a nap. Right in the middle of the living room floor! This pup was certainly not traumatized by the long drive and subsequent flight. And he was definitely no clinging vine that was going to be dependent on humans to be happy. “Well! He’s certainly no Tori”, I said to myself!