This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is all about pets! So, I'm going to take this time to share Woody's story with you (and then share a photo, which you've probably seen before, but its my favorite of Woody)
Gene and I decided we wanted a dog. He's always had a dog and I've never had one. I was a little hesitant about the care involved in taking care of a dog, being restricted to town because we needed to take care of him, and just overall, how would I be with a dog?
Gene wanted an athletic dog. Something he could exercise with, something that would be great for JJ to play with. He decided we needed and Australian Sheppard or a Border Collie. We tossed around the idea of when and where to get a dog. One day at work, I was googling Border Collies and I came upon a website for a breeder that lives in our town. I sent the page to Gene and I asked him if he knew about this place and he said no. He called and got some information. Not only did they have dogs, they have goats and Gene wanted to go see them all. We stopped by after work to see what they had.
I wasn't completly set on getting a puppy from a breeder. I know there are plenty of good dogs out their in shelters or rescues that need good homes. But, since this place was literally up the street from us, we decided to look into it.
We are talking with the husband and wife about things. They tell us about their puppies, what's available, what their process is. Then, mid conversation, the man asks his wife if she told us about the special ones. "Special ones" I ask? No, she didn't mention it.
He told us, a litter had been born a few weeks ago. It happened to be the coldest night of the year. Sometime during the night, the heat lamp in the kennel burned out. Each of the puppies had a varying degree of frostbite to their left ear, depending on how they were positioned against their mother. He told us, this shouldn't and wouldn't affect their hearing at all and they were otherwise healthy, but he felt he shouldn't advertise these as available because they we different.
We agreed to look at some of the pups. After all, I'm a little special, so why not have a special dog. He brings out two puppies. One he said was the least affected and one the most. I knew as soon as he rounded the corner from behind the kennel, that no matter what the level, the one puppy in his hands was ours.
You see, Gene had been very specific that he wanted a Red Merle colored dog. I was hesitant, well, because some didn't look very pretty. And, they usually have lighter colored eyes, and that kind of freaked me out.
But, in this mans arms, was a Red Merle puppy. Yes, the brown one in his other arm was cute, but that was our dog. I got to hold him. He snuggled up to me and nipped at my ear. Sold I said!
We brought JJ back a week later to meet him. We actually let JJ look at all of them and we "guided" him to pick Woody. JJ thinks he picked him out himself. :) We loaded him in the car and drove him to his forever home.
So where does the name Woody come from? Well, after we first saw him and decided he was ours, we needed to come up with a name. We had all kinds of ideas, but nothing seemed to fit. One night, Gene and I were watching a re-run of Cheers and I suggested Woody. I said, you are a woodworker, he's kinda colored like Woody, I think it fits. Everyone agreed and Woody he became!
Woody has been a wonderful addition to our family. He's got a great temperament. He's affectionate, he's eager to please, he's obedient. He loves to travel in the car. We have to be on our toes with him sometimes, because he's so smart! We have learned to love frisbee. And his little ears (or one little ear... hehehe...) perks up when you say the word Frisbee!
When we returned from the cruise and I picked him up from the kennel, he toppled me over because he was so excited to see me. I could see him light up when he saw me and he jumped around and kissed my face!
So, that's the story of woody... and as promised... here is your photo.
Make sure to jump on over the I heart Faces and see more pets!
