The Rules

There were certain rules laid down even from that first day. Most of them lasted all of a week.
They included things like:

• No dogs on the furniture.
• The puppy sleeps in her crate.

I was not the first to break the house rules. The baby daughter was not the first to break the rules. I am not going to say who the first to break them was but eventually we all broke them all.
During the early potty training phase, I took Abbie to work with me in the little wicker carrier. When I took a break, so did she. It worked out beautifully.
Then I realized that the puppy followed me about the house. She whined at my chair to be picked up and was present beside my bed at bedtime. Oops. That was not the intent. It was, however, the result.I had become her Alpha Dog Person albeit accidentally.
Looking back, the result was predictable but I still contend it was not intentional.Baby Daughter would pick the puppy up and take her into her room. Puppy would wait until she thought the coast was clear and then find an escape. Right back beside my bed she would be. As many times as I would take her back to her owner, she would find a way back to me. The rest is history. I wasn't the one who wanted a dog but I surely got one.

We can call her Abbie

We went to Louisiana for Christmas that year to visit family there. Every day, Baby Daughter waited for a call about a puppy.
Finally the call came on the day after Christmas as we traveled back to Oklahoma. "When can we see them," asked the baby daughter.
"Not for several days," said the parents.
Yet we did not have the car unpacked when my baby sister arrived with the news that she and y baby daughter were meeting my co-worker relative of the kennel owners for "just a peek" at the pups. I am not sure how all of that came to be but by the time the trio left the kennel, each of them had selected a puppy.
They picked out names for the dogs on the trip back. Our pup was a girl. My sister chose a boy puppy. They were named for the kids' favorite clothing store: Abercrombie & Fitch. "We can call her Abbie," Baby Daughter said, when I observed what a mouthful Abercrombie was.They were caramel in color; the combination of their gold poodle mother and a white maltese father. All of the puppies save one had the same coloring, or so I am told. I never went to the kennel. Not then, anyway.
The one different puppy went to my coworker. That puppy was black.When it was explained that these "Phantom" pups are "thrown" only so often, my coworker just had to have it. She has it still. A gorgeous girl name Zoe.They would be ready to leave their mother by mid-February.
The wait seemed forever to the Baby daughter.Finally, we were called to pick them up on Valentine's Day. Baby Daughter walked in with the tiny fur ball pictured above. The red ribbon they'd tied around her neck was the only thing that kept us from losing her when we put her down on the winter grass. She was an exact match to its color and also to the carpeting in the den.
I recall there being birth announcements mailed out announcing the arrival of Abercrombie and Fitch. They were quite the pair about town that first Spring. To basketball and baseball and tee ball and tennis matches they went. I am told that demand for Malitpoo puppie swamped the breeder.

Uncle, I Said

Finally, I am worn down enough, and quite possibly feeling enough of the Christmas spirit to agree to let her try to locate and price a puppy.
I admit I was a bit relieved to learn that both the location and the price of what she found were out of range.
But then, the unthinkable (at least to my mind) happened! Chatting with friends
at school about the only thing she wanted for Christmas, Baby Daughter learns of
a kennel very near us that sells Maltipoos. And not just that, but the
kennel was owned by relatives of one of my coworkers who can get her an
immediate hook up. The hook up reveals there is a litter of maltipoo puppies
due at Christmas and they are affordable. Some are not spoken
for as of yet. Egads.
It is just meant to be, she tells me.
I conceded. I know when I have been bested and bested I was.
It's white flag time.

Uncle, I said.


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All She Wanted for Christmas

In the days and weeks that followed the test, photos began to appear as backgrounds on my computer, printed out on my desk, left in my car. Friends and family dropped not so subtle hints.
As Christmastime approached the intensity increased. It was made quite clear to me that all Baby Daughter wanted for Christmas was a puppy.

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Below:

the maltipoo picture that showed up in print and as screen savers all over my home, car and office...

Here is How it Happened

Thanksgiving Day 2002. We are watching the Macy's
parade when a dogfood commerical comes on. Commerical says stayed
tuned for the annual dog show immediately following the parade. Baby Daughter wants to
stay tuned. We stay tuned.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSO0-Rrl5QQ
Thus began a tradition we still keep, of watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and the dog show in our pajamas snacking on sweet breads and sipping (apple) cider and/or coffee.
On Thanksgiving Day 2002 there were no dogs in our home, in our laps, in our lives. All that would soon change. During the dog show, yet another commercial invited us to
take a pet test, a serious of questions on line designed to identify
the breed of dog best suited to a would-be pet owner.
Let's go take the test, says the Babhy Daughter.
We are not in the market, says the Mother.
"Just for fun, Mom," come the reply.
"Okay, but just for fun..."
The test results were fun and somewhat predictable. Poodles were high on our lists. The only inside dogs we had much experience with were poodles. Baby Daughter wanted a lap dog.
She was ( and is) a seriously social being who at the particular time was not enjoying the new experience being the only child in the house.
The test reference poodle mixes, something I had not heard of before.
Baby Daughter was all over the idea. She googled all manner of poodle mixes. I recall Thanksgiving dinner being served been late that year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSO0-Rrl5QQ

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Puppy Love

What we did not need was another dog at our house. Sometimes I can't believe we have any at all.
You see, I have never really been a dog lover;
especially when it comes to inside dogs.
We tried an inside dog, a little black poodle we named Cadeaux, when my husband and I were still newlyweds. Our lifestyle did not comport with dog ownership
Now, 35 years later, our lives still are not particularly dog friendly, yet, we now have four.
The newest one, technically, does not belong to us. She belongs to our youngest daughter. The problem is, so did two of the other dogs who are permanent residents at our house.
I am still trying to sort through how this all got started.

Is there really a dog-lover gene?
If so, my child inherited it from her father's family. My in-laws always always had a poodle on the inside and another, usually a boxer, on the outside.
My sister-in-law has owned about every kind of canine known to man at one time or another.
It never occurred to me that I would have more dogs in my house than she; yet at this moment, I think i do!
The first two of the inside dogs live with us through no fault of my own. Not at all. I mean,
not really. Not so much.
I am sure you will agree when you here how it happened.

How I got a lap full of dogs

This post was born of three dogs sitting on my lap at the same time this morning. I looked down and wondered aloud "how did this happen."
Truth is, I know exactly how there came to be three dogs in my home and on my lap.
All three are poodle malteses or Maltese poodles. Maltipoos, they are called. There is another blonde in the yard who thinks she is a Maltipoo but actually is a Labrador retriever.


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