some history...

roughly 8 and a half years ago my wife and I were just boyfriend and girlfriend
we were living together and serious enough to take our relationship to the next level
we decided to get a dog
actually... we decided to get two dogs

it was an interesting process
a process a lot like looking for a new apartment or a new house
there is a great deal of pleasure in the fantasy
but , there also a great deal of real life hassle

an aside
this blog is already lightening my load
I am breathing easier
the memory is softening the emotions on my face

in the early stages of our search we looking for a specific mix
there was even some effort to get some friends to breed their dogs
the only issue... no friends would mix breeds
so we searched through the standard avenues...

there were Saturday morning trips to the shelters, there were various rescue events, pet stores had gatherings... it was a process
a process that was frustrating at times
so few of the providers were willing to meet our simple basic set of desires
2 dogs
both male
preferably brothers
and
puppies

we got turned away by all sorts of rescue units
for some reason they did not think we should have puppies, two dogs, or dogs at all
there was one visit where we were very close to getting some previously used and seriously abuse puppies...
but I refused to visit the dogs a second time
knowing if I visited them a second time that I would take them home
and I knew that dogs are tough enough from a standard baseline
to have to work to get a dog to normalcy before training them seemed like more work that I was prepared to handle

then it happened
one weekend there was an ad in the paper
puppies....
shepard retriever mix
first set of shots
one hundred dollars
with a little information
and
maybe some punctation

so lisa and I drove out of the city deep into western maryland
we followed the directions that took us to a destination that may be similar to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm

there were vast open skies
red barns with tall silos
seas of green and small rolling mountains in the distance

we parked the car and meandered towards a barn where we could see some activity

once in the barn it was a wonderful scene of 16 fluffy puppies chasing around a number of fluffy young lambs

it was a long time ago
but I recall that there were a so many puppies that it was hard to keep track
I had a list of "puppy tests" I had seen on the Internet
but threw that aside and started to play with all the little fur balls
I made my choice of which puppy I wanted then lost track
lisa too made an educated selection... then lost perspective
we ended up grabbing two dogs
a small black one with white on his chest that we named Brutus
and
a very odd grayish one with strange hyena like markings that we named Roscoe

we drove home
taking the dogs away from their farm home to the city
their new home