I’ve already proven time and time again– we are dog lovers. We have been fortunate enough over the years to have some pretty awesome canine family members come into our lives. Izzie and Harley left our family much too quickly, but our home is always open to adding another furry friend to the bunch. Sometimes very spontaneously.

So with our dear Izzie being gone for a little over a month, we were all feeling a little bit of the puppy fever lately. Our other dog, Bella, has been sad and just not acting the same for the last few weeks. So, on Saturday, my husband insisted that Bella needed a playmate (which translates into We all really want a new puppy! Pronto!)

I spent some time Saturday and Sunday looking through ads in the paper, looking up websites for breeders in the area, and researched a bit on what breed of dog would be best for us. I checked two of our local animal shelters to see if they (on some rare chance) had any smaller-sized female dogs that don’t shed. The girls had already stated their opinions of not wanting another Yorkie or another Jack Russell Terrier. They also wanted to be very clear that we weren’t replacing the dog we lost, just adding a new family member.

By Monday morning, I had finally settled on a breeder about an hour from us who had Malti-Poo puppies for sale. In case you need to fulfill your cuteness quota for the day, here is a pic of what a Malti-Poo (Maltese/Poodle mix) looks like:

I know, I know. CUUUUUUUUUUTE!

I called the breeder Monday morning and made an appointment to be at her house at 11:00am. She had a few other puppy breeds available, but I was most interested in the one remaining female Malti-Poo she had.

I’m going to get a little sterotypical for a bit and say that anytime we have bought a dog from a breeder, we have arrived to a house that smells like dogs, and I often have wondered whether the people spend as much time cleaning their house as they do taking care of dogs (um, they DON’T). Usually the houses are messy, and I can’t wait to leave.

This time, it was different. They lived in a nice house, it was clean, and it did NOT smell like dogs. The breeder came out of the house to greet us, and she was very nice and friendly. She has been a dog breeder for 50 years now (50 years!!!) and it was obvious that she takes great pride in her business. She brought out the Malti-Poo, and I immediately fell in love with her.

Then, because she obviously figured out we were suckers for a cute furry puppy face, she brought out some of the other breeds she had for sale.

Lord help me…

(To be continued)