Reply #16: My dog Guinness was passed on from a hyper-paranoid friend [View All]

[Hobarticus]

She had picked out a farm puppy from a litter for her kids. I think the owner wanted to get rid of them early, because they seemed WAY small for six weeks.

In any case, she took myself and my wife-to-be along to pick out a puppy, since she didn't know how. I crouched down by the litter, tapped on the ground, and one puppy ambled on over to my hand. I told her, "that's your dog".

She took him home to her kids, and when we walked in, her kids looked at us with that little black puffball like our heads were on fire. These kids are SUPER over-protected and over-indulged, and were afraid of this tiny puppy. Wouldn't come near it. My wife and I played with him for awhile while they hid in their rooms. He got tired, went in his kennel to sleep, and we left.

A few days later, my wife's friend asked us to watch him while she went out of town. I fell in love with him, he was the most good-natured puppy I'd ever seen. Her friend came back and asked if we wanted "Willy", as the kids who wouldn't play with him named him. I waffled, but when I heard my wife's friend dramatically telling her mother that she 'feared for her childrens' lives' because of this ferocious little puppy, I realized that I had to get that dog away from those kooks. Those first few days are so crucial to imprinting, and they were leaving him alone.

I jumped at the chance. I told my girlfriend that if she kept him for a few months, since I was looking for a house, I'd take him once I bought a house. This, unknowingly, was also our 'first big test' as a couple....we owned a dog together.

I bought a house, moved Guinness in...a year later, moved my wife in. I don't think I would've taken the plunge if not for him, seriously. He brought us together. He's my boy.