Flashback: April 23, 2005

The day we went to pick up our 7-week-old chocolate lab puppy in Pennsylvania. I cannot even begin to tell you the preparation that went into finding a breeder, picking a name, selecting a vet, buying food and toys, choosing a crate ... it was totally ridiculous. You know those totally neurotic, overly protective, first-time parents? We were 10 times worse than that ... and it was all for a dog!

So, after months of enthusiastic preparation, the big day finally arrived. Not only were we picking up our puppy, but we were also picking up a puppy from the same litter for my in-laws. We started off early for our 3+ hour drive, loaded up with more supplies than you can imagine. When we finally arrived, there were 13 puppies to choose from. Can you imagine having 13 babies at once?? It makes me exhausted just thinking about it. Here is a picture of the mother and her brood taken on a previous "scouting" trip to the breeder (yes, we made a 7-hour round-trip consultation visit ... I told you we were over-the-top ridiculous!):


It was very, very difficult to choose ... they were all so cute! Ultimately, my husband came up with deciding criteria for our puppy and his parents' puppy that made the choice easier. For our puppy (Wrigley), he just wanted the biggest male. He literally examined all six sets of paws for size ... it's really important, you know? And for his parents' puppy (Mirah), it was the female with the nicest coat. Once the decision was finally made, it was interesting to note that Wrigley spent the entire time trying to get back in the box with the rest of the puppies and Mirah wandered off on her own every chance she got. These were going to be two, very different pups!

As you might imagine, the ride home was just as ridiculous as everything else up to that point. We put each puppy on top of a blanket in a laundry basket, double and triple checking that they were snug and comfy before heading off. I, of course, rode in back with the pups to make sure they were okay at all times. We even turned the rear speakers off to ensure a top-rate travel experience for them. We stopped countless times to make sure they had plenty of water and potty breaks. You would have thought that we were transporting the most delicate, precious and important cargo in the world!

We did finally make it home with both dogs safe and sound. Phew!



And, so began our love affair with our dog, Wrigley.

I am, however, happy to report, that we got most of our first-time-parent jitters out with him and were relatively relaxed and normal when it came to parenting real children less than a year later. I guess our kids have Wrigley to thank for that!