Dexter wants everyone to know how he came to live with us.

I guess it’s best to start at the beginning….

I had promised my wife that once we bought our own home, we would get her the little housedog that she always wanted. So five years ago, tomorrow, we finally did get that puppy.

I’m a firm believer in things happen for a reason, random events is just not something I really believe in. The story of how Dexter came into our lives is one that proves it.

We started looking shortly after we bought our new home. We were constantly online (petfinder, petharbor, and other sites like that) looking at the puppies, looking for “that one puppy”. Yes, we thought a few of them were what we wanted, and would contact this shelter or that one, only to learn the pup in question was adopted the day before.

After several weeks of this, I promised my wife we would go and find her the puppy she so desperately wanted. And we set out for what would be an emotional roller coaster day.

Our first stop was the local AC shelter/pound. It was the first time we had been there, and were immediately disgusted by the sign posted at the doorway. “NOTICE until further notice, all animal adoptions are suspended due to rabies outbreak in the county. Surrendered animals may be turned in daily 9 am to 5pm or left in the drop cage in front of the building.” I couldn’t believe it, it was like some kind of weird “Hotel California” kind of thing. Needless to say, we didn’t have any luck trying to adopt from the AC.

Next, we called the local humane society. The nice lady there was very helpful, but wasn’t interested in anything my wife was saying, she was just trying to get my wife to adopt a adult GSD. Not that there is anything wrong with adopting an adult GSD, but it just wasn’t what we were looking for. My wife wanted a small house dog.

Well, this type of thing went on for the majority of the day. We visited four AC shelter/pounds, none with any luck. They were either closed on the weekend, or not allowing adoptions, or there just wasn’t any small dogs there.

I had resigned to the fact that this promise I made earlier in the day was not panning out like I had planned. My wife was slowly becoming rather depressed about he whole ordeal. After spending all day – it was now a bit after 4pm, and we had been trying to find a dog since 9am. We decided to give up, and head for home.

We were actually in another state and saw the sign that would point us in the direction of our new home, so we took the exit and quietly headed home.

I was the first to see the sign…. A pet store! Hey, I bet we could get a puppy there! So I quickly pulled in and with smiles on our faces we went inside.

An elderly gentleman who talked with a heavy German accent greeted us almost at the door. When we told him we were looking for a puppy, you could have heard a pin drop in the store. For a few seconds I thought he was thinking which puppy he thought we would be interested in – oh, was I so surprised when he finally bellowed out in his unique German accent “We don’t sell any puppies in December!”, “People always want puppies for Christmas, then by February they don’t want them any more and just drop them off at the pound!”. “Come back in March and I will have one for you – NO PUPPIES FOR CHRISTMAS” he exclaimed.

My wife and I were almost speechless; I didn’t know what to think. Heck, I just wanted to get a puppy for my wife. I explained to the pet store guy, while my wife started to tear up, the events of the day and how we had been to so many shelters and pounds. I swear you could see his face light up when he started talking about a local shelter, the Spartanburg Humane Society. He said if we really wanted a puppy, this would be the place to find one, if we could get there before they close at 5pm.

He took a piece of paper, and explained each turn as he drew the map for us. It was hard at times to understand his accent, but he was patient and we finally understood his directions.

The next stop was almost magical, we walked into the shelter and there he was… the cutest little ball of fur ever put on this planet. My wife immediately said, “There he is, that one!” and I ‘tried’ to tell her, “Honey, this is not going to be a small dog.”

I have been married long enough to know when I’m wasting my breath, so I resolved to the fact that we were adopting this one, and went to fill the paperwork out. It was then that I learned this dog was the only one out of the litter of nine that was ready for adoption; the others hadn’t been spayed or neutered yet.

We made one more stop that day on the way home. We stopped by that pet store to show a kindly old man the wonderful puppy we found at the shelter. Since we were there, we would also need a few items… bowls, food, shampoo, treats, toys… you get the idea. When we were paying for all this stuff, that old man stopped and gave us that same look like we received when we first met and he turned and walked away; only to return in a few seconds with a rawhide basket full of chewies for our new baby!

On the way home, we were trying to decide on a name for our new bundle of joy. Several names were discussed, yet none were ‘right’. Until, that hand drawn map on an old scrap piece of paper fell out from all the papers we had. Both my wife and I glanced down at it and realized for the first time, that wonderful map had only one word on it… Dexter.

How could we resist fate?

So I just want to say, Happy GOTCHA DAY DEXTER! We love you so much!


The map

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/Photo0167.jpg


"santa toy"

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/dexter.jpg


"rawhide basket"
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/dexter-test.jpg

"dexter rose"

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/dex-rose.jpg

"silly Dexter"

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/silly_dexter.jpg


"happy Dexter"
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/030507_1658.jpg


"first picture"

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/bh241/Dexter/Dexter_1.jpg

What a wonderful story! Things do happen for a reason and we just have to accept that sometimes what we want may not be what we need. I too had a dog find me in the most unusual of ways. Serendipity.

He's got a great smile.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy your gotcha day with Dexter.

Lovely story.
And yup - not a "small" dog!:D

reminds when I was a kid my dad said I could have a "small dog". Saw an ad in the paper went and saw the medium sized momma, and got tiny "Bootsie" as a puppy.
Bootsie grew to about 100lbs! My dad was not very happy.

Great Story. All is meant to happen the way it does.
Regards,
jurn

Great story...I'll share mine of how I acquired Cooper...
I work with adolescents in a group setting teaching drug and alcohol prevention. The summer of 2005 I was running a group and during the first week I was telling my students that I wanted a dog, but knew that my schedule and life wasn't great for a puppy. Everyone I knew told me that getting a dog would not be a good idea right now. I agreed and didn't say much else about it. During the 4th week of a 6 week group, one of the students showed up to the family session with a puppy...god, he was so cute, I wasn't sure why "Jack" had brought the dog to group because the puppy was distracting and was peeing all over the carpet. Jack told me that he and his mom couldn't keep the dog and were going to give it to the humane society the next day....I knew this puppy would get adopted right away, but to whom? A parent in the group said, "Roberta, you need to take that puppy home and name it Cooper. He needs a good home." huh, I kind of agreed...though there was a bit of a glitch. I couldn't accept the puppy from the client, as counselors/therapists ethically cannont receive gifts from clients. So, I contacted Jack's mother and told her I wanted the puppy, but couldn't accept him from Jack. The mom agreed to meet me at a local vet office. Once at the vet I informed the receptionist of the situation...Jack's mom arrived and dropped the pet off and walked away. The vet then treated him as a surrender and I just happened to be there to take him home with me....Everything now is wonderful with Cooper Jack...he's happy and healthy and I am happier and healthier because of him!

Great stories, all. Thanks for starting this thread, bh. A happy 5th anniversary to Dexter and his family! Am a big believer in fate.

Had I not inherited my first Samoyed, Buck, from a roommate who decided to move into a dog unfriendly high-rise with her boyfriend, I probably still would not have a dog. Surely never would have gotten a big hairy white Samoyed. Probably would not have gotten into camping or bought an Element.

If I hadn't been on vacation in Colorado, hadn't met a breeder in Virginia who sold me a puppy born the night Buck died, who I named Thatcher and who died at 9 weeks in my arms, then I would not have gotten Gidget in Colorado (referred by the Virginia breeder). Was going to rent a car to drive her back to DC but was able to get her in the plane cabin with me.

Was behind a Subaru today, with a dog crate and a sticker that said: "I Believe in Dog."

I certainly do. And gratuitous Gidg pic of the day: my baby at 6 weeks, 3 weeks before I met her. :) Oh, and some pics of a couple of her brothers and her entire litter (6 boys, 2 girls).

Awww Benny that's a lovely story. It's a pleasure to know you and Laraine but it's and honor to have met Dexter! (and Boomer and Baxter) :D

Loved the pics of Dexter. Give the boy a hug from me. -g

Mrs. Perfdata wanted a dog ever since we got married, I just kept saying no. But one day she caught me in a weak moment and told me of a guy at work whose dog had a dozen pups. I said let's go look at them, we saw the pups at 23 days, they were so small one fit in each hand. They were a Rott/Shepherd/Husky mix, really good looking dogs. However, the conditions they wre in were terrible; mother's milk was sour at 9 days so they were being fed by hand and cheap dog food from Wally World. These people didn't have two ncikels to rub togehter, kids running around in diapers all over the place, and the dogs were outside. Mother was a papered Rott and the lady left her outside in heat, DUH!

Anyway, we picked one out and told them we would be back when they got old enough to leave. Mrs. Perfdata then found a trainer who happened to raise Grand Champion Rotts, he met with us and told us what to look for in a pup. We then went back and changed to another dog and if we had enough room we would have taken 3 of them. We worked hard to find homes for 3 of the other pups.

We went to get Rio (his name came from a map of Colorado) the day he turned 6 weeks home, a bit early but the conditions were bad. The first few nights were LONG as he cried all night but soon he grew out of it. This is my first dog and as long as I am sucking air there will never be such a good dog. A bit of a independent spirit at times, has selective hearing until HE is done with what he wants to do but the year of dog classes paid off, people tell us he is the best behaved dog they have ever seen.

All of that was over 8 years ago and Rio has just gone to senior diet, gets a shot one a month and takes half a pill a day to help with his joints. Just went to the dentist on Tuesday, has all of his teeth and they're in great shape, just needed some cleaning. We don't have human kids but I can't imagine caring more for a child than I do for this dog.

Now, if he would just get in the E, he prefers the Jeep.

http://www.perfectiondata.com/images/e/rioinjeep.jpg

Guys, you always make my day with great stories and pictures of your puppies. Great stories all!

Happy Gotcha-day, Dexter and a big hug to all of your pups! (Benny, Baxter is my favorite, sorry).

And yes, there are so many things in life that just scream:"You have to believe in fate!"

What a great thread! I'm coming in late b/c of all my new job craziness, but I'm glad I did...great photos everyone!

Daniel (my boyfriend) got Ganja as a puppy. Her mom Yoda belongs to his cousin and her dad Petey (who died an awful death this month) belongs to his other cousin. Out of all her litter mates, Ganja was and is the cutest. No, I'm not biased, the whole family (all but two of the puppies are still in the family) thinks so too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/acidcherry/DSC00401.jpg

Pepper came to us kinda sorta on an impulse. We had been talking about taking in a rescue dog so Ganja could have a playmate, and while we were at PetSmart one day getting fish stuff they had an outreach going on, and there she was, as far back in the corner of a crate as she could get. She was very shy and wary of strangers, but was extremely sweet and loving with the volunteer. I fell in love with her immediately. Luckily, Pepper was an owner turn in, so the organization had lots of info on her: she was an 11 month old Australian Cattle Dog/ Australian Shepherd mix who had been taken in by an elderly lady as a puppy. The old lady was expecting a calm, mild mannered dog and wasn't capable of handling a high energy dog like Pepper, so she left her in a dog run in the backyard, hired a 9 year old boy to play with her once a week, and overfed her to handle the guilt of leaving her caged 24/7. Needless to say, our work was cut out for us. We're still dealing with some issues (mainly dog aggression) but not a day goes by that I don't wake up and feel grateful to have her in my life.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/acidcherry/DSC00810.jpg

And this is Pita. She belongs to the same cousin who has Ganja's mom Yoda. We were trying to get her before we got Pepper, but they wouldn't even consider it. She has LOTS of issues and is pretty much neglected. (You can tell she's too skinny) We're aiming to buy a house by August and then I'm going to start pressing them to let us have her....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/acidcherry/Pitaistooskinny.jpg

Great story Benny, and I'm real glad you didn't make him stay green. I'm sure all the other dogs would have made fun of a green dog, like they talk about Poodles be a haircut cult. Merry Christmas, Drew:)

Great story Benny.


Last year when we were buying the house my wife asked me if we could wait years before we get a dog. Two days after we signed the papers on the house she emailed an ad for lab/collie pups. We didn't get one of those but two days after we moved in we brought home Iggy.