Temptation meets Fate

This is a long story that probably doesn't hold a lot of interest for people but to me it is amazing because it was so right. It really makes me feel like there is fate, God, or something out there watching over me.

    I watched the Westminster dog show this February like many Americans, (and people from other countries, I don't want to leave you out.) All the sudden I saw this magical little dog prance across the screen. I didn't have a clue what it was, I had never seen one before. I had never really paid a lot of attention to dog breeds but I was awe struck. I turned and looked at my boyfriend and said, "that dog is going to win." Sure enough, it wasn't ten minutes later Kirby was standing in his cup looking like a king. This dog had personality to spare. He didn't look like a dog, he looked like a small person with fur. I felt like he knew exactly what was going on around him and he was glad he won. Then and there I thought I needed one of those.

    Growing up I had always wanted a small dog, a dog that could sleep with me at night and be my best buddy. My dad believed that dogs were meant for one thing only and that was hunting. If it didn't hunt birds and live in the backyard it wasn't a dog. At the very least, it wasn't a dog that was good for anything. My mom never liked dogs at all. She didn't like the one that lived in the backyard. She doesn't like any animals for that matter. So here I was, a little girl with only a big (stinky) German wirehair pointer who loved to jump up and knock me over. Needless to say, we weren't the greatest friends. Suddenly there was this dog on TV and he was perfect! It was love at first sight.

    The internet has been a great source of information to me for many years and so I turned to the resources I knew. I found the Papillon-L email group, the papfriends email group, and butterflynet. My boyfriend thought I was obsessed. Suddenly I was spending hours a day reading email about dogs. I didn't even have a dog! I didn't live in a house where I could have a dog. I was however moving in a few months and so I was determined that I would live somewhere where I could have a dog. I found a wonderful apartment but no Papillon.

    My father, the hunting dog man, had told me ever since I was a little girl and always wanted to go to the pet store to look at the puppies that you don't buy dogs from the pet store. I still loved to go to the pet store though and in the midst of my search I, who had never seen a real live pap before ran across two darling puppies at the pet store. Some would say that it was because Kirby won at Westminster, and maybe that is true. All I know is that those puppies were almost more temptation than I could stand. The timing was horrible though. I wasn't living in my new apartment yet, I had a very busy summer ahead of me living with my parents where I couldn't really have a dog and I couldn't afford $450 for a puppy. Still, I agonized over those puppies like they were the last papillons on earth.  The people in #papichat told me that I shouldn't do it, I knew I shouldn't do it, but leaving those pups there was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I cried the day I went to the pet store and they were gone.

    Still on my search for a Papillon I came across a puppy miller. My boyfriends sister in law had a friend who got a Papillon puppy from this woman (isn't that how it always works?) and I gave her a call. Yes, she had Papillon puppies, yes I could have one. The males were $300 and the females were $350. Once again my mentors stepped in and cautioned me. Reputable breeders ask questions about you. You shouldn't be able to get a pap just because you want one. You should have to show that you would provide a good home. The price seemed rather low to them, and I live in one of the puppy mill capitals in the world. Sure enough, someone looked up the lady and she was a commercial breeder. A puppy miller. I was saved from myself once again.

    I was advised to go to a dog show to meet breeders. I went to one held in Topeka where I saw some beautiful paps and spoke to some really nice breeders. I was told that they wouldn't have anything at least until fall and that a pet quality male would cost $600. I not only had severe reservations about my ability to raise a small puppy into a well obedient dog (as I had never had my very own dog before) but as a full time student money was also an issue and as much as I liked their dogs I couldn't afford one.

    I then heard about a rescue in the area. I was so excited. The dog was so sweet. I held her and held her and then I talked to her foster mom. I couldn't have Soleil because I didn't have a fence and she had been abused by her former owners. She wouldn't potty on leash and she wouldn't come back if she was lose. I was almost heartbroken to say goodbye to Soleil but she went to a wonderful home the next day and from what I hear she's doing great in her new home.

    I was pretty discouraged by this point. Every lead I got seemed to end in disaster. I felt like I would never be good enough to be owned by a Papillon. I was too young, too poor, and it felt like all the odds were against me. I gave a lot of thought to going to the pound and rescuing some dog. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with rescuing a dog, and while I would have gladly rescued a pap I did have my heart set on a pap. No other dog was going to do. I was in love with the breed. They were everything I had ever wanted in a dog. My friends told me though that good things come to those who wait and that there was the right dog out there for me. They said that when the right dog came along I would know it and I wouldn't have to have doubts. I wouldn't wonder if I was doing the right thing.

    It was a busy summer for me and being discouraged as I was I wasn't actively searching for a pap. I was reading my email when time permitted. I skipped everything that didn't look extremely interesting. One evening I had a few minutes and after I had read all the email I was going to read I went back and read one I had skipped. It was titled agility and it spoke of a dog that wanted to be re-homed somewhere where it might have a chance to do agility and have his own person.

    I wrote back right then saying I was interested in this dog and if I met her standards I wanted to keep him and love him. About a month later Teddie was in my home all the way from Nevada and there was no hesitation. No second thoughts, it was perfect. There was no sweeter feeling in the world than that little dog in my arms. He and I love each other immensely. He truly was the dog of my dreams and it happened like a miracle.

    Sometimes people don't think of such little things as miracles, it was a coincidence or something that just happened. But this was a miracle. And it was all because I listened to my friends. I avoided mistakes and was blessed with a little black and white angel who wakes me up with semi-slobbery kisses.