Chie!

I made thumbnails, so you can click on them for bigger pictures.

I'd told my veterinarian that I hoped to find another dog to keep Jack company, something a little bigger & more watchdog-oriented, to help my grandparents feel like there was some purpose in having dogs (eh, they're old-fashioned.). I'd always loved the way Chows looked, but I felt absolutely comfortable with Akitas, having grown up with them. The vet assistant jotted down some numbers for me.

When I mentioned that it was just really important to me to get another dog that was intelligent & easy to get along with, the veterinarian suggested I consider Australian Shepherd dogs.

As I had in the last few months, I continued checking the Humane Society, Kijiji, Craigslist & the Honolulu Advertiser Classifieds. I called up the numbers the vet assistant had gotten out of the Ilio & threw it away after 4 out-of-services in a row. In the meantime I kept reading about various breeds at Dogluvers & Michele Welton's site. I decided I really wanted a Chow. I still want a Chow. But no Chows are to be had, apparently. There were tons of breeds I didn't want --- I guess pitbulls & chihuahuas really have a lot of sex. It's like canine dysgenics or something.

Then today (well, yesterday), the Advertiser had an ad for the very dogs my veterinarian had suggested. No, they wouldn't be my natural first choice, but then I had never even seen one of these dogs, much less met one. The breeder called me back relatively quickly, & made arrangements to meet me in Kaneohe.

I was suspicious because I would not be able to meet the parents, but I wasn't eager to drive all the way out to the breeder's home in Laie either. I called around for someone to come with me & my faithful cousin Craig agreed to come along. The breeder told me that the puppies' red merle dam had been purchased from a breeder in Kauai, & that she had her blue merle sister as well. The sire was a tri-color working dog at a ranch in Kahaluu. Although she couldn't bring the dam along, she would bring me videos of the dam playing with her pups. We agreed to meet at He'eia Elementary campus, where she had gone through obedience classes.

Short of actually getting to meet the parents, a video & the breeder's testimony would have to do. At 2 years of age, the dam was too young to exhibit any genetic fallbacks anyway outside of personality traits, & I had boned up about judging puppy temperaments. Web images of blue merles fired me up & I drove out to the meeting with some apprehension, but a lot of anticipation as well.

When I got out there (sheesh, I don't know my way around), it was already getting dark, & so we carried the 3 rambunctious (And beautiful! Fuck it, I was already sold!) puppies to the basketball court lights, where I was mobbed with puppy kisses from 2 out of the 3. I hoped to wait until they lost interest in the humans & started cavorting with eachother, but they didn't. The humans were too fun to... to kiss, I guess.

They all appeared to be in excellent health, perhaps a little rotund, & certainly friendly & happy. The one that hadn't mobbed me was already lying on her back getting a bellyrub from my cousin & had no reservations whatsoever with his excited-by-puppies son. The other 2 just continued to socialize with us, as if we shouldn't be allowed to hold a discussion with other humans.

It occurred to me that any one of these puppies would do, all being beautiful, healthy, & of obviously shining disposition. So, as 14 years ago with Puppy, I chose based on looks. I picked the one with the most striking markings, & the only blue merle with some brown markings on her face & hind legs. Puppy is actually of very similar coloring, & as a kitten he had a few stray patches of orange which I found charming (your dad was a stray orange tabby, wasn't he?).

As soon as I brought her home, Grandma was enchanted. This is an extremely good sign, because Grandma is a self-admitted animal disliker. She likes Jack but only when he is on the other side of the screen door. But she couldn't not pet the new girl. My grandfather was pleased, my cats were pissed (Puppy took a swipe at her immediately.), & Jack was ecstatic.

Initially, after some very in-depth sniffing (can't get used to that), Jack jumped around trying to get her to chase him. Bring disoriented & tired, she refused, but when he began antagonizing her, she snapped back. They tussled for awhile but eventually she was trying to climb up my leg so I took it as a sign to bring her into the house.

Jack got a meaty raw beef bone to celebrate her arrival & the cats got slivers of raw beef. My grandmother looked up Japanese girl names but couldn't choose one, so I've decided on Chie.

Chie is passed out at my feet as I type. She whines when she needs to go outside, which she has twice tonight. Once she gets her bearings & hopefully a little bigger I think she'll be quite comfortable outside with Jack.

I'm going to need another doghouse though. They're not going to both fit in there in a couple of months.