Science Girl and I realized we'd made a mistake taking our boys to "look" at puppies with no plan to actually bring one home. Once sold on the idea of having a dog, the boys saw no need to shop around.
The puppy rescue people posted pictures of puppies on their web site on Fridays. That day, our family gathered around the computer, hoping that the selection would be good. We were in luck. There was a litter of puppies, supposedly the offspring of a Boxer mother and unknown father. Science Girl and I quickly conferred. A Boxer mix seemed like a good size dog and judging by the pictures, the unknown part of the lineage didn't seem to include Poodle or German Shepherd.
One of the puppies was the color of caramel, another was white with black spots, and the third was a mix of black and white. The boys started referring to the dogs as Caramel, Spot, and Oreo. I reminded them that if we got one of them, we'd call him something else. I was thinking up names that would fit well with Leo, our cat, and was contemplating Gus, Fletcher and Linus.
Science Girl had also learned that to get your pick, you needed to show up early and get your name on a list. People would get to choose based on when they arrived.
On the designated Saturday, we showed up before the event started and were happy to discover that we were number 4 on the list. The first set of people looked at Caramel and took him. The second set of people, a large family in overalls, looked at Oreo. Simultaneously, the third family looked at Spot. Sport started to whimper, there were other dogs but we'd agreed that these three were our top choices. Science Girl and I looked at each other, anxiety building.
Suddenly, the overall clad family put Oreo back and asked to look at another dog. We were given an opportunity to visit with this black and white dog. We petted him, he seemed friendly and sweet. Our family all agreed that this was our dog. We picked him up and walked over to fill out papers. I asked the kids, "What do you think? Linus?" They scowled. "His name is Oreo," they said. I argued. They remained steadfast. We approached the registration desk. "Oreo Blizzard," they said. I winced.
Anyway, Oreo Blizzard has turned out to be a fine dog - funny looking with a long back and short legs, a loyal watchdog, affectionate, playful. And, whenever the boys or Science Girl declare their love for him, I remind them, it was my idea to get a dog.
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