Pet Store Twinkie

It is almost a tradition that every time I go by the pet store I have to stop and see the puppies. I’ve never bought a puppy from a pet store, and I’ve been against it for a while. You hear horror stories of bringing home sick pets, and having them die shortly after they get home. This trip to the pet store was different.

                Walking down the row of glass cages I saw the normal assortment of toy dogs and miniature mixed breeds, all barking their yippy pleas to be taken home. To me these small dogs somehow represent our current society, a society of the soft and week. The only purpose for these dogs is to annoy and have a fluffy thing to cuddle. Passing these dogs with no more than a glance I headed for the real dogs, the working dogs, the hunters and farmers of the K9 world, the labs, spaniels, mastiffs, and hounds. I saw a few fine specimens of K9s waiting to be adopted into families that most likely wouldn’t even know what to do for a true working dog. They would take the young pup home to their suburban home, with their small fenced-in-backyard let them out to potty and wonder why their anxious dog won’t stop chewing the legs off of the dining room table.

                In one of the glass kennels, with a German shepherd and mastiff I saw the dog that would force me to go against my rule of buying a pet shop puppy. He was sitting there in the corner of the cage being picked on by his larger more aggressive cage mate, the German shepherd. He saw me and laid down on the cage floor, put his large cinnamon and white paw to the glass and licked the glass wall while staring at me. It was as if he was saying, “Take me home, I’ll be a great pup”. I asked to take this floppy eared Basset hound out of the cage.

                Gage, the pet store employee was more than happy to do so. The Basset pup and I got our own little play area to become acquainted, and my heart was his within minutes. He was the dopiest little pup I’ve ever sense. Every other step he took he tripped on one of his long oversize ears. He had that distinct puppy smell and the puppy breath when he gave me little puppy kisses. We sat with each other for more than a half hour, and he fell asleep in my lap. I couldn’t put this dog back in that glass box, I knew this now.

                Twinkie my Basset puppy slept most of the car ride home on my lap. When he got to his new home the first thing he did was pee on the floor and chased the poor cats down into the basement. Sense I’ve had him home he has many of the problems that are associated with pet store pets, and some to the point where I didn’t think he was going to make it through one of the nights. He is getting better, and every day I wake up to him whining to go outside, and every afternoon I come home to his little wagging body, it is a better day.