Peanut puppy.

About eight months ago, we almost bought a tiny poodle puppy that we were going to name "Winnie The Poohdle." We debated that possibility for weeks, all the while wanting that cute little bundle of fur, but not wanting to tie ourselves down to another 15 years of being dog-parents.  We finally decided not to buy the puppy, and I reluctantly gave our final decision to the woman who was selling 'our' Winnie.

Being in such a small town, you hear news from all the corners.... and we heard that the manager of the telephone store had bought that last poodle puppy.  A couple of weeks ago, I had to go into the phone store for an attachment for my phone, and I asked to speak to the manager there.  I told her that we had almost bought the little puppy that was now hers, and she knew about our story right away, having heard about our decision-making process from the woman selling the puppies.

She named the little dog 'Peanut' because he was so tiny when she brought him home, plus his fur was the color of a peanut.  She said that the puppy was like her shadow when he was little, following her all over the house, always under her feet and couldn't have gotten closer to her if he'd tried.  As he grew, his personality blossomed and she and her husband both agree that Peanut is the best dog they've ever had, for the simple reason that he's just so sweet.

I asked the woman if she had a photo of Peanut with her, but she didn't.  I was so curious to see if that cute little puppy-face grew into an equally adorable doggie-face, but maybe it's just as well that I didn't see a picture of him.  I think of that little puppy from time to time, but in my mind's eye, all I see is the tiny ball of puppy-fluff that was so small and cuddly, making him very hard to resist.

Before I left the phone store that day, the woman asked me what had made us finally decide not to buy that puppy. I told her only part of the truth..... that our last dog Gracie had been such a big part of our lives that we weren't sure we wanted to diminish her memory by adding Winnie The Poohdle to our family.  She smiled at me and understood, because she had also gone through periods of grief over pets they no longer had.

"The easiest way to get over that kind of sadness is to get another puppy," she told me.   I agreed with her, but didn't mention that neither my husband nor I had wanted to make another 15-year commitment to another dog.  Most people don't even think of that....... they see this positively adorable bundle of puppy-fur and that's all they see.  They don't think about all the training, the care, the walking, the brushing and bathing, the feeding, the work, the work, the work.  All they see is the puppy. And the puppy-love.

Maybe that's the trick..... you have to concentrate on the puppy-love, and forget all the work that goes with that bundle of fur.