Maybe ten years ago a new-to-me woman named Nan joined a campfire birthday party for a good friend of mine. I didn’t know her, but it turns out she was a long-time Ketchikanite who was back in town for the summer. She sure proved to be a lot of fun! AND she had a little dog that looked just like a wooly bear caterpillar. I was enamored. He was friendly, cuddly, and adorable. That fall Nan went home to Maui and took her little buddy with her.

I Facebook friended Nan, as one does, and over the years I learned that she bred these little dogs and other adorable varieties. About 5 years ago, she posted a picture of some pups, and Scott and I fell head over heels in love with one little fluffy girl. “She looks like an Ewok,” Scott said. I was ready to fly to Hawaii to pick her up, but unfortunately, the puppy already had a home. 😒

It was about this time that our old husky girl started to decline. She had back problems and was slowly becoming incontinent. That quickly wiped out all thoughts of a puppy. The decision to put her down was a long, slow one, and, as I have often heard pet owners say, “We waited too long.”

The whole process was traumatizing, and truthfully we found our new, dog-free lives less stressful and more relaxing. You do not realize how the pet anxiety sneaks up on you! We were constantly “on point” ~ waiting to get Kona out before an accident. I would cut events and visits short so she wouldn’t be home alone too long. It didn’t matter how tired I was, I had to immediately take her for a long walk the moment I walked in the door. Neighbors told us they could hear her howling and crying from the moment we drove away until the moment we pulled into the driveway. It. Was. Exhausting.

With our newfound freedom, puppies were not even on the radar. In spite of this freedom, I started to feel like something was missing. I did the math. I had NEVER not had a dog. From the day I was born, until the day Kona died, there had always been a dog around. Sometimes two. I missed those crazy greetings, wildly happy dogs meeting you at the door. I missed my “shadow” when one dog or another decided to follow me closely throughout the day, always at my heel. I missed the first pet of the morning, often before I was even out of bed. I missed buddies who curled up with us while we watched TV. That played in the yard while we worked. So it was not surprising that one lazy evening, as I was scrolling through my Instagram and saw that Nan had another set of puppies, I clicked and looked. As cute as they were – and let-me-tell-you, they were CUTE, I knew we would never get one of her dogs, they were just too far away. However, it prompted me to do a general Google search, looking for pups on the Kitsap Peninsula (where all three of my dog-loving daughters live). It was a random thing to do, maybe even done out of boredom.

This search took me to a site called “puppies.com”. Basically a clearinghouse for dog breeders. The search engine was easy to navigate. It looked slick and professional, and even though I shouldn’t have, I made some assumptions and started to search. I wasn’t really picky. I had hundreds of puppies to look at. I scrolled past an awful lot quickly but kept slowing down when I saw these little pups from a breed called Cavelier King Charles Spaniel. They. Were. So. Cute. I shot off a message to one breeder and turned off my computer to watch a movie. Puppy forgotten.

The next morning I noticed a message. It was from the breeder. She did not have the puppy I saw on the website but had another one available (thoughts of bait and switch crossed my mind). If I wanted to have my daughter go and look at the puppy ~ the breeder, Liz, would “hold it for me.” I had been keeping Sarah in the loop on all this, the breeder was near her house. Before I went too much further, I looked up the personality qualities of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and learned they had exactly the disposition we wanted; CKCS are known to be super sweet, cuddly, and friendly. Scott started to get excited. Scott, Sarah, and I went back and forth, texting. We were making logistical plans. When to come get it. What it needed in terms of crates. Airline carriers. Puppy kibble. We. Named. Her.

The logistics are too complicated (and let’s face it, boring) to go into here. But suffice it to say, Sarah went to Petco and stocked up, Scott Venmoed $1,000 to Sarah to pay for the puppy. We purchased airline tickets and Sarah took over making arrangements to meet and pick up the puppy. 

Liz wanted Sarah to meet the pup, pay for it that day, then come back the next day to pick it up. She apparently needed to groom it before she would let us take her. Scott and I would both be at work and unable to FT when Sarah actually visited the kennel. The time rolled around and happily, I was able to phone in for a few minutes….. Here is how that FaceTime went.

Sarah: Hi Mom. Can you see me? (Face moves really close to the screen)

Me: Sort of, it is a little choppy.

Sarah: Can you see me? (The breeder’s back is turned and Sarah is clearly mouthing the word “NO!”)

Me: Ohhhh…. ummm… (realize I have to be careful what I say). Have you seen the puppy?

Sarah: No, not yet, she is going downstairs to get her. We were told to “Stay here!” (She pans the camera and what I see is shocking! A living room with white tile, blocked by dog gates and what looks like at least 30 adult dogs in a large pack barking and jumping.

Breeder: (Back upstairs) “Here is the puppy.” She lays the limp, sad little pup on the counter with all the other piles of crap. The puppy lays with her head between her legs and does not lift her head. She is shivering. It is pathetic! Weston reaches out to pet her, but she doesn’t respond.

Me: (To the breeder who thinks she is getting $1,000 from me now) “Uhhh…. Ummmm… which one is the mom?” At this point, the breeder scans the pack of dogs.

Breeder: “SAFFRON!!” she yells. When a dog seems to respond, she points, “That One.” I am certain she has no idea which dog is the mom and is making this up.

I feel SO Bad for Sarah. She is in a crappy spot, I have to jump in and be assertive and say the awkward thing so Sarah is off the hook….

Me: “Hello, Liz? Thanks for letting us meet your sweet puppy. I need to chat with my husband, and we will get back to you. Thanks again!”

Later that night I tell her “No thank you.” It was a pretty simple decision except for the “rescue factor.” That little pup tugged at my heart. But no way was I going to support a puppy mill! Suffice it to say, that woman texted and texted me trying to get me to change my mind. She called me and said so much BS that I blocked her. The next morning Sarah reported her to Animal Control, the County, and to the Humane Society.

The good thing to come out of this was that we – Scott and I were on the same page! We wanted a puppy, and we wanted a Cavelier! I dug into the research. I had only bought one pedigree dog 30+ years ago, and it had been 16 years since we had a puppy – all our Ketchikan dogs were mutts. A puppy from a litter that a friend had… like that.

Not knowing where to start, I talked to several people. We got great advice from a daughter’s friend who had recently raised and sold a pedigreed litter. That, combined with info from a knowledgable friend taught me that we had to be careful when getting CKCS. They were prone to health problems. I learned the breeding protocols and tests I would need to see. Besides genetic testing, OFA testing and following a recommended breeding protocol, my own requirement was acceptable living conditions for the dogs. 

I joined an FB page (which is full of scams, of course, but if you weed through, there is some valuable information) and started to generate a list of what others considered “reputable breeders.” Many, Many long phone calls later (Scott: “Dog people are chatty”), my takeaway was that nobody seemed to do everything 100% correctly. 

Long. Story. Short. I looked at a lot of breeders and talked to maybe four of them. The last one checked all the boxes. She has a litter due in May, and we are number two on the list for a puppy!! (OK. Doing a little math and I am not even sure the puppy is conceived yet?) Sooo… if everything goes smoothly, we should have a health-certified puppy from a lovely breeder by mid-summer. She lives in Spokane, so it will be a bit of a drive to get it, but it will be worth it!