Tag Archives: Dog People

There is nothing like the love of a dog. Who else loves so unconditionally, without expectation for anything in return except a warm lap, a long walk and meals (served on time)? When I sent Dash the Wonder Dog to Rainbow Bridge on December 5th, I knew it was the right thing to do for him, but it created a hole in my life that was almost unimaginable. Just 16 months after losing Alan, the loss of Dash rocked my world. For the first time in 50 years, I had no one to care for – no one who counted on me for anything. Dash died on a Thursday, and by Saturday night I realized that I didn’t want to live the rest of my life without a dog. And specifically, I wanted another Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. And, just to put a fine point on it, I wanted a puppy. I realized that getting a puppy at my age was a triumph of hope over practicality, so I researched articles about getting a dog later in life. Almost all recommended getting a senior dog – one who was housetrained and had grown out of the puppy stage. And let’s face it, one that won’t outlive you. But then I ran across an article from the WSJ: “It Was Crazy to Buy My Aging Mother a Puppy. It Was Also Brilliant.“, by Kathie Roiphe. In it, she recounts how the puppy energized her mom, lifted her spirits every day, and brought purpose to her life.

Bolstered by that piece, the following Monday I contacted Dash’s breeder, Kelly Collins of Spice Rack Cavaliers. She normally has a long waiting list of people who want her well-bred dogs, so I expected I would have to wait months, as we had for Dash. But such was not the case. Kelly told me that she had a litter due in two weeks and that I could have one of them. It felt like a gift from Heaven. Kelly said Alan and Dash would be happy I was opening my heart to a new dog, and I believe that. The puppies were born on December 19th, two boys and a girl. As luck would have it, I only live two miles from Kelly, and she asked me to watch them the following day for a couple of hours so she could fulfil a commitment. Holy smokes! How lucky could I get???

Over the next six weeks two more litters were born, and I got to watch over all of them several times. It was both fun and a blessing, as I got the know the personalities of the dogs in “my” litter. Late in January one of the boys came over to where I was standing and curled up on my shoe. I knew instantly that I’d found my guy. I had already picked out a name – Dashing Doolin, call name “Dooley”. The name is partly in tribute to Dash, and partly in memory of a fun town I visited in Ireland. Dooley has developed into a beautiful puppy, and I can tell he has already outstripped my IQ level. He was the first to learn how to get out of the pen and the first to navigate the dog door so that he could come and go as he pleased. But he is also wonderfully affectionate. One day as I was babysitting, I put all three of the puppies in their pen, with the door open. I sat on the couch around the corner and the next thing I knew, he was waddling over and asking to be lifted up onto the couch. Who could resist? He immediately cuddled up on my lap and then looked at me with quintessential “puppy dog eyes” (picture, left). I can assure you; no one has ever looked at me like that!

Last week I took all three of the puppies to Starbucks in a stroller. If you ever want to meet people, take three puppies to Starbucks. They were good as gold, and since then I have brought them home a couple of times for an afternoon of play. But today…today is THE day that I get to pick Dooley up and bring him home forever. He is already mostly housebroken and sleeps through the night. That said, he’s a puppy and will no doubt put me through my paces over the next several months. But in just the short time I’ve been with him he has already brought me joy and my heart is once again full of love. I couldn’t be happier. Welcome home, my sweet boy, Dooley!