For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a dog person. At a young age, I was obsessed with the idea of being a “dog mom” which back then, wasn’t even a thing yet! My parents would always say “we’re never getting an inside dog” but boy did they not know what the future held!
When I was around 9 years old.. can’t be sure (childhood was a blur) but it was definitely around that age. There was one Christmas all I wanted was a dog but not like a “family dog” like we’ve had in the past. No… This dog was going to be all MINE and if I had a dog there was no way it was going to sleep outside! Of course my parents, the buzzkills back then, kept saying “no, you won’t take care of it” or “no, a dog is too much work” or the popular “no, dogs pee in the house!” Well at the ripe age of almost, maybe 9, I was determined to get my dog! I also happen to be the only daughter in my house of boys so I am, by default, my dads favorite. I knew exactly how to get what I wanted. It was a bit of a challenge though since my dad was against the idea of an inside dog.
Not to be deterred… like I said, I know how my dad works. He’s a man of logic and work ethic. If I wanted to show him that I could handle my own dog, I would have to put in the work. So how does a 9 year old prove shes ready for a dog, you may ask? Well, she goes to the library! I checked out as many (children’s) books about dog’s and how to properly take care of them. My dad was impressed but wasn’t convinced I was ready. I mean, fair… I don’t think I read one of those books.
With dad still being a no, it was time for plan B. Gotta go straight to the big man on this one.
That’s right, I asked Santa for a dog. He looked over my head, saw my parents (traitors) shake their head “no”, and said “How about a stuffed dog?” I left The Southern Lights that night utterly defeated.
Just a few days later my mom told me that after church that day, we could to the shelter and “just look” at the dogs they had. I was ecstatic! I ran upstairs when we got home, grabbed my “how to pick the perfect dog” book and waited to go. My mom told me she had to go Christmas shopping and when she got home we could go. So I sat there waiting and waiting… also hoping that my mom was finally going to buy a Christmas present for me, since all of my brothers had presents under the tree with their names on them and there was not one for “Sarah”… Hours went by and finally, I hear my mom come home!
She yelled up the stairs for my to stay put because she had to wrap the presents first and she may have one for me. Once she had put the presents away, she called up and told me she was ready to go and for me to go check under the Christmas tree because I finally had a present underneath.As I turn the corner into the living room, the first thing I saw was my mom holding a camcorder, why was she videotaping me?
I looked under the tree and there was a small grey animal carrier and inside was the sweetest little ball of fluff I had ever seen!
That was the day I met my heart dog, Charlie. He was a white toy poodle, with a little bit of apricot on his ears, he only weighed 1lb! We took a picture of him in a Christmas stocking that day.