Puppy Dog Tales

 The Tale of Davy Crockett

  

  I figured that if I was going to name a blog "Snips of Snails and Puppy Dog Tails" that I ought to tell about the puppy dog that is part of the Heptinstall family. 

  Our family was without a dog in 2007.  Every family with a gang of boys needs a dog.  It might even be a law.  We had tried to buy one of those fancy dogs before....the kind that comes with paperwork and you have to take out a small loan to buy.  We looked in the classified ads and found what we thought was the perfect little dog.  A teensy little peekapoo.  I will keep this portion of the story short....the peekapoo died after three days. There was no fairy tale ending to this puppy tale. 

  At that point, we promised to never buy from a breeder again. (No offense to you puppy breaders who are doing a good job.  It just wasn't right for us.)  We decided to check out our local animal shelter.  We looked at the website for weeks.  We kept searching for a small breed dog that would be good with kids.  We weren't having any luck.  On a whim one day, Tucker and I decided to stop by the shelter and just take a look.  I will be perfectly honest.  I really do not like dogs.  I am afraid of dogs.  If it had been totally up to me, we never would've gotten a dog.  But the day we walked into the animal shelter sealed the deal.  I was first shocked at how unbelievably loud it was inside the shelter.  As soon as we opened the door to look in the pens, a hundred dogs erupted into simultaneous barking.  It was deafening.  Tucker and I scanned the cages with our hands over our ears.  I am typically not very compassionate toward dogs.  I am more of a kid lover.  But when we were walking past all those abandonded dogs, I wanted to rescue them.  I felt so sad for them.  Most of them were not right for our family. They were too big....too old.....too pregnant....or too grouchy.  But then we came to the pen with the tan and black puppies.  They had just become ready for adoption. I knew when I saw them, that Tucker would fall in love.  I was right.

 

    The puppies were playfully jumping around and wrestling with each other. Tucker squated next to the pen, with wide eyes, and immediately asked to keep one.  I told Tucker that we would have to talk to his Daddy and bring his brothers back.  The next day, we all returned to the shelter and adopted our puppy.  On the ride home, the puppy sat in Tucker's lap and licked him over and over, as if to say..."Thank you!  Thank you! Thank you! For choosing me!". 

    The boys quickly came up with his name.   We had just returned from a trip to San Antonio, Texas, where we visited The Alamo.  On that trip we learned all about Davy Crockett.  The boys wanted to name our pup Davy Crockett, the protector of our frontier.

(This is Davy checking the creek area for "bad guys" as we drive up the driveway.  He does this every single time we come home.  He runs to the creek.....sniffs....looks around.....and comes to the car to meet us.  Every time. Always.)

    Davy has been a perfect fit for our family.  Davy comes running across the field whenever we drive up from our day at school.  He stays right on the boys heels every time they go outside.  He walks up and down the creek bank next to our house with the boys as they explore.  The boys and Davy are inseperable.

   Davy Crockett loves the boys, you can tell by the way he wags his tail like crazy when they are together. 

He doesn't care for me as much.  It's rare that he will even let me pet him.  He usually runs like a maniac around me in circles when I squat down to pet him.  He does, however, love to go on runs with me.  Somehow, he can sense when I am leaving for a run.  I haven't figured out how he knows I am running as opposed to when I am just going outside for some other reason, but he knows.  He barks and takes off running down the driveway.  He gets so excited to go for a run.

   Davy is a good protector of our frontier, just as we hoped he would be.  He is small, but makes a lot of noise if the need arises.  He doesn't like strangers to enter his frontier.  He likes to keep it simple.  The boys, the parents, and the protector of the frontier.  I am so glad we stepped into that Animal shelter.  We rescued Davy that day, and in turn he has given us complete loyalty and love.  Now that's a happy ending to a puppy dog tale!