Wonderdog's Origin Story

My neighbor just adopted a puppy and it got me thinking of Wonderdog and his origin story.

Our previous dog died on a Wednesday in July. By Friday, I couldn't take the quiet in the house, and I had done the math and realized that we either had to get a dog right away or wait until September or so.  And I found myself on Petfinder.com constantly.

It was Saturday morning that I found the litter: 8 puppies in Westchester, with various degrees of wirehair. I applied to meet the puppies and continued my search.

Over the next few days, I found (and met) several eligible dogs and puppies. We went to an ill-fated rescue fair where none of the dogs seemed to be really available. My mom and I met some adorable Cockapoos who were in an odd rescue situation where a woman seemed to be enabling a puppy mill. And I had long talks with volunteers from various rescue groups.

Then we got the call: there were still 3 puppies available from the wirehair litter, and we had been approved. I called the woman who was fostering the pups, and she said that Pretzel was the one for us: he was friendly, adaptable, and smart, and the kind of dog that just loved attention and didn't care what you did to him.

Like a fool, I decided that the three of us should go look at the puppies. When we got there, the woman I had spoken to was out and her husband seemed to know very little about the dogs in his care. But he let us play with them. Pretzel was adorable, but a bit assertive for my taste, and way too energetic. Hopper saw no problem. Boo saw only puppies. Pretzel became Wonderdog.

He's a great dog, and I love him to death and have bonded with him thoroughly. But he has way too much energy and is too assertive. (He also will do anything for attention and will let you do anything to him.) Because he was so smart, it became clear that he would need a job or he would find his own occupation and it would be destroying our house. I signed him up for a class at a dog club that offered training for therapy dogs--I thought it would be good to combine occupying the dog with a little volunteer work for me.

We never got to therapy. Honestly, Wonderdog is still too bouncy to be trusted around people in nursing homes. Maybe someday. In the meantime, we found Obedience and Wonderdog has earned two titles. Although we're still working on the bouncing, he is the best-trained dog I've ever had.

But my next dog is going to be super mellow. The kind of dog that never moves off the couch.

Yeah--that'll happen.