[Dailydrool] Pierre

[Dayna Whitehead]

I can’t believe it, but Pierre turned 13 today at about 8am. When his dame went into labor 13 years ago, Deb and Michael called me from about 3 states away. I lived in Michigan and they lived in Minnesota. I had never heard of basset rescue at the time. It was about 6 am in the morning on a Saturday. I had planned on sleeping in. I was dating my DH at the time, but he lived about 2 hours away from me and we didn’t see each other very often. I stayed on the phone with them until every puppy was born. All of this took about 2 hours and, thankfully, no complications. The 6th dog, crashed into the world and we were done. Wow!! I had sent her pictures of my first basset that I had lost a number of years earlier. Well, that last dog, whom they called “Crash” was the same coloring as my first baby. He became my baby from that moment on. When I had lost my first basset, I had decided that I didn’t want to go through the pain and loss ever again. That lasted about 5 years. Then I began actively looking. I knew when I wanted it and where I wanted it. I didn’t know, however, there was a right way and a wrong way. My sister was in a pet chat room on AOL talking to Deb at the time. Carridan, my sister, told Deb who I was (a professional single mother at the time) and that I was looking for a basset puppy. She got Deb’s info and told me to contact her. I emailed her, we exchanged phone numbers, etc. I initially didn’t want to go to Minnesota to get a dog. Then Deb and I started talking. I found out Pierre’s parents were “finished.” I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about, but gee, it sounded good. Thankfully, Deb took the time to educate me on a great deal of things. Through all of that she was also interviewing me. I asked some questions, but nothing compared to the ones I would ask now. I got incredibly lucky. I say that because I “lucked” into the types of breeders, few that they are, who are trying to better the breed. I don’t know if anyone else would have taken the time to get to know me or give me a chance with one of their cherished babies even though I knew what I need to do now. I thank doG every time I look at Pierre that she did. Yes, I’ve made a few mistakes over the years, but have learned from every one of them. I called Deb a great deal at first asking questions and she helped me through some of the trying times I had with him (mostly the training part since she was, by profession, a dog trainer). Deb said she would never breed again. She never wanted to but a bitch through what Maybee went through. Even though there were no complications, Maybee still had  a difficult time. Anyway, Deb sent a contract and asked for a small deposit. I read it, filled it out and sent it back with the deposit. Three months later I came back with a bouncing, baby boy whom I have cherished. Pierre has been the most perfect dog I have ever had. He has never counter cruised, got in the trashed, etc. The only issue I had with him was the poop training which solved itself. That’s not to say, there haven’t been many funny things over the years. While I know my time is limited now, I think it’s time to tell his stories. They are nothing compared with most of the others I read on the drool, but they are still funny to me in their own way. I am dreading the day I have to post that my Pierre, my beautiful Pooper, has gone to the bridge. He’s not nearly as important to you as some of the others have been over the years, but he’s important to ME. He is the reason I’ve had 27 rescues through my home over the years, why I have adopted 2 of those rescues, why my family brings dogs to me now when they would have just sent them to the local shelter 13 years ago, why the neighborhood kids would bring stray dogs to my house that they found ( I spent a great deal of time on the phone and online searching for their rightful homes or for rescues over the years for some of these ☺ ) and why I will continue to volunteer for the rest of my life. I also educate everyone who I come in contact with who wants a puppy. I try to talk them into an adult dog that has no one. I can no longer walk unaided and will soon be in a wheelchair, but that does not stop me from taking care of my own babies, so it will not stop me from taking care of others that need me even more. I look forward to another lifetime of helping and to taking care of and snuggling with my Pooper for as long as he is on this Earth with me.

Thanks,

Dayna
mailto: Dayna.Whitehead at comcast.net

Mom to: Pierre, LaBelle, Bubba ATB (1/24/2011) and notabassets Izzy, Elke and Nikki ATB (10/2/2010)