There's No Biting on Tuesdays - Part 3 (The Journey)

A mini series about losing my beloved dog and getting a new puppy.

Part 3: The Journey

The logistics of getting Willow here nearly broke my faith that this was meant to be. Hadley's breeder was located only about 2 hours away from us. Willow's breeder would not have been much further except for the move to South Carolina. They're in a small town, not close to a major airport. That would mean both flights and car rentals and I am a New York City girl who is not comfortable driving. I asked around and was referred to a flight nanny who flies that route and was asking a reasonable price to transport Willow. Done. Except suddenly not done. She had to work and then booked a vacation and her new schedule meant a month delay.

Thus began an odyssey into the world of pet transports. There are plenty of them and almost all gave me the ick. The few that didn't, wanted way more money than my initial budget. I began planning early and spent many hours on it. And I spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying that this was ill fated, that this level of difficulty was an omen that it was not meant to be at all.

And then a friend who lives in Florida suggested that her adult daughter might be up for this adventure. We spoke and, sure enough, Kady was happy to transport Willow. She said she preferred to drive and asked for approximately the same amount I'd already planned on with the original flight nanny. The giant boulder sitting on my chest rolled off.

At 9:00 am on the morning of the pickup, my phone dinged. Kady had turned on her location tracker and I watched her pull into the breeder's address. I literally cried. About 30 minutes later her car began heading north and shortly after I began receiving photos of Willow making the journey to her new home.

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There's No Biting on Tuesdays - Part 2 (The Waiting)

A mini series about losing my beloved dog and getting a new puppy.

Part 2: The Waiting

I had imagined that I would be a much calmer future puppy mom as I was expecting my second. The constant worry and check-ins of the first would not be me anymore. HA! Panic would set in quickly over literally everything.

I signed the breeder's contract and did a bank transfer of the deposit. They said they would co-sign and put the contract in the mail. Two weeks went by and I hadn't received it so panic began. Were they legit? Was I being scammed? But a few days later, the contract I signed online along with the breeder's signature and all the information we discussed were in my mailbox.

Another few days and I begin to worry that I hadn't actually spoken to the breeder in a while. Was there something they were not telling me?? The following weekend an email arrived detailing the pickup arrangements and offering helpful tips to prepare for a new puppy. A couple of days later they called to chat, see how I was feeling, wanting to be sure I knew how difficult puppies can be. I assured them I am now an experienced puppy mom and was looking forward to the work. I'm an idiot, by the way.

A week before pickup, Willow now 8 weeks old, I wondered if I would even recognize the pretty 4 week old I'd chosen. Would it even be the same puppy? What if something happened to that particular puppy? Some of you are thinking I should be medicated at this point and I can't disagree.  And then an email arrived with updated photos and I recognized her immediately by the shape of her brown markings. My pretty 4 week old turned into a pretty 8 week old. I was in love.

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