Whatever Lola wants…
How many times have I said no since Joanna and I started to mourn the loss of our wonderful family member Mugsy Red Raider Von Lubbock?
It was closing in on a cool 10K when I talked to my mom.
She was the former breeder and knew all the places to find good dogs and where to separate the wheat from the chaff as my late grandpa might say.
So, one night before Christmas, right before mom was to go onto a trip to Switzerland and Germany to go to market, I brought up the idea.
She was cautious but excited.
“He would want you to move on…, ” she said with a tone in her voice that I have heard many times but ignored.
I let it go and never brought it up again until Friday night as a lark.
“Why don’t you find us a puppy mom?”
“Two,” Joanna said with the tone of more of a wish, than a request.
“ONE, no more. No less.”
So Mom was off and Friday was a bust, her usual suspects were either out of the business or had changes their number.
I had completely forgotten about it, and Joanna was sad, but knew that when the time was right, we’d find the right dog.
Now, my mom had started again on Saturday and had asked of me and Jo our favorite things to look for. Joanna wanted a Black and Tan Dachshund, but it didn’t matter to me. It was about the personality that had molded me from Brooke, grandpa’s black lab, to Mugs, that to this day must not be taunted.
“When you see my dog mom, you’ll know. You’ll see something in his eye, a fire that won’t quit. If you see that. You will have found my dog.”
I had forgotten about that early in the day call, knowing that no matter what, if something was going to happen, it would happen when I least expected it.
Joanna and I were having a late dinner at On the Border (sorry FTC, no payment by them here) when Mom called. I had my mouth full and I missed the call and just thought that I would call her back.
Then she called again.
Something was up.
“You have a new baby dachshund, a black and tan dapple. Beautiful markings and Sean, I saw a couple of others, but this dog had fire. He was fearless in playing with the dogs much larger than he.”
Joanna and I had some names in mind, but I never named a dog without looking at him, I mean, there are some dogs that are named SPOT for a reason.
Joanna HAD to go to Petsmart, then Target (dog Woof!) to get the animal all sorts of appropriate items. She looked at dog clothing but my John Casey growl caused her to walk away.
So we went to the house staying up till two in the morning, cleaning the house preparing for one dog. Joanna wanted to get the dog right then, but I thought that we should wait until the 30th and I would pick up the dog while she was doing a jewelry party in San Angelo. However, life isn’t how we plan sometimes.
And along came Keegan
The next morning as we woke up to go to church my dad and mom called.
One of my nieces, Kaitlyn had fallen MADLY in love with “Spotty” as she called him.
“If you don’t come and get him today, you’ll lose him. I can guarantee that,” my dad said.
My dad rarely kids.
I told my mom that we really wasn’t prepared to go.
She was disappointed and I took a shower trying to figure out how I could get the dog on Saturday after my promotional remote for work.
I had things that I had to bring my Mom and Dad, gifts from Angel Fire and from the wedding that somehow wasn’t given to them.
And I left them all on the counter.
I had brought a dusty soft plastic dog kennel and a blanket and we had reached a little past Abilene when my Mom, who had given in and went to get my niece Kaitlyn her own puppy, called and asked the question that has turned this family upside down…
“Would you like another one? Someone to play with while you two are at work?” There was nothing I can do, but hand the phone to Joanna and a glint in her eye of pure joy began.
“You need to work on the fence tonight,” she said as she hung up the phone.
I had a premonition that no matter what happened, that I wouldn’t be working on the fence that night.
So as we got to my parents house Dad opened the door and ignoring requests for hugs until we forced them on him, led us to the cage.
Led us to our dog.
Now he was the our one choice, the perfect dog. And Aengus is gaelic for One Choice so Aengus McGee joined our family.
We played outside and had some fun and Mom brought in our second dog. He shook and shook , scared as he could be.
But when we let him down to potty he became an Olympic athlete. He darted from here and there, wiggling out of peoples hands and he was so smart that he would do things so we wouldn’t catch him (i.e. hiding underneath the truck).
We named him Keegan Patrick, Keegan for his fiery personality and speed, and Patrick for my late brother, who seemed to always be wiggling out of situations.
After dinner and hugs, we started for home.
But we had to drop off a thank you note at Joanna’s Aunt’s house and while the dogs both enjoyed the use of her yard to relax and piddle, I watched the 3rd quarter of the Saints game. Joanna showed her aunt pictures of the wedding on their computer.
We , since the dogs were tired now and kenneled up in their travel carrier, headed home, stopping twice more to let them out for stretching and doing their business.
Finally home.
We finally got home at 2 A.M. and took them to their new huge box and crashed watching them look at us and then crawl into a ball on their blanket.
We took them to the vet because Aengus had a very bloody stool this afternoon and we were concerned.
The vet gave both dogs medicine for Aengus’s bacterial infection and said that they thought Aengus may have worms but they thought it was just a hair.
Joanna came home to study for her EMT exam, as I reorganized the newly improved kitchen cabinets when Joanna called me to help clean up dog poo.
And TRAGEDY, as I saw the little signs of a puppy who has worms.
So tomorrow we have to notify the vet, that they were wrong and that the dogs both need to be dewormed AGAIN.
We notified my mom to have her have the other dogs that were bought from this breeder checked out.
And I find quite ironic, that the dog that we named for the Wiggle Worm, may not have worms, but the “One Choice” did.
And that my friends is just another story that once again you can’t make up.
