Pupternity Leave

Well now that is was settled that I was getting that little Black and White puppy and that I would ALLOW him to be showed (remember this), I couldn't wait.

But first there was this matter of finishing up the last big events of a job that was going to throw me out the door.  So the month of July arrived and I headed out to DC to travel with a Chinese partner and meet with customers and then our biggest trade show event of the year.  These were bittersweet events as I loved the people I worked with and this would be the last time I would see many of my customers who over the years had become my friends.  The ten days on the road were long and exhausting but I knew my reward was living in a loving home in Minnie.  As I greeted my many friends when they came to see me at the booth it was so much fun talking to them and showing them a picture of baby Diesel on my phone and telling them I was going on Pupternity leave as soon as I got home.  And oh by the way, sell them something..  Unfortunately I could not say goodbye personally as although I felt my job was over it was not to be official for another four months. 

Show over,  airplane home,  early rise the next morning and a quick drive to Linda's and baby Diesel is home.  My first TT.  Remember my earlier post.  TT's are like potato chips.  You can't have just one.

"I need a special home for a special boy!"

and I thought I was the sales person.  "Linda, I can't take the puppy now,  I'm going to be gone all of July" was my reply. 

"We are willing to keep him for the extra month to place him in the right family" (Again,  who is the salesperson?)  "But (oh oh), we would like to show him and maybe breed him"  (Wasn't I clear that I wanted no part of that business?)  "Well, what does that mean to me?" (buying signal)  "You need to keep him in tact and not cut his hair"  "How much does it take to keep him groomed?" (buying signal) "Not much just 15 minutes a day" says the salesperson that wasn't me.  Well I really need to meet him again. (SOLD!!!!)


As a side note,  the people who know me know that I'm not a high maintenance person.  The people who know show TT;s know that they can be considered high maintenance.  

See an issue here..

I was pretty proud of myself...

When I left that first evening with all of my money still in my pocket.  I had been clear about my timing and the fact that I wanted nothing to do with a "show" dog.  I just wanted a pet that would hang around with me.  I was very satisfied I was getting a puppy at the end of August and was going to enjoy the rest of my summer.  This satisfaction lasted 4 days,  then my cell phone rang.  It was Linda,  she wanted to talk about the little black and white puppy.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Free
$15
$35
$150
$250
$400
$2000

Yikes!  Well,  I'm glad I'm all grown up. The original idea was to get two but..ah maybe not. And of course I wasn't going to get one until after my trade show season ends at the end of July, right.  There were more puppies due to go home to there forever home the last of August,  I'll get one of those. 

Meanwhile, back to the backyard.  There was another couple there and when they left Linda and I had a long talk.  I filled her in on my background and was emphatic about the fact that I might show the dog in agility and obedience but I wanted nothing to do with the confirmation ring.  After all I had seen Best in Show.  As we were talking Bill arrived home from work and we also got to chat.  Satisfied that these dogs were being kept in a loving environment I know I would be purchasing a puppy from Linda and Bill.  But not until the end of July.

But there was that small issue of that black and white puppy.

"they are 6 weeks old and pretty cute at this age."

I really can't have a puppy until after the big trade shows in July.  Once those were done my job was pretty much eliminated.  I really can't have a puppy until after the big trade shows in July. I really can't have a puppy until after the big trade shows in July. I really can't have a puppy until after the big trade shows in July.   That was my repeated thought as I drove south down 35e,  to check out the conditions under which these 6 week old puppies were being raised.  I vowed to remain unmoved by these puppies.  Yeah, Right!

I arrive,  the door opens, a woman with long white hair who wasn't 5 feet tall and a little  shaggy black dog with mottled feet and a white chest greeted me.  The woman was Linda and little dog was Parker,  the second TT I'd ever met.  Remember that name:  Parker.

It was a beautiful evening in June and Linda and I sat in the back yard watching and chatting as four little puppies and their Mama race in the back yard.   A little black and white boy kept coming over....I really can't have a puppy until after the big trade shows in July.
 

The Dog (less) days of summer

Back to work or what passed as work then the following Monday.  Didn't have to let the Big Guy out during the night or that morning  was a staunch reminder he was gone.  My team (what was left of it) were wonderful.  A card and a flower were awaiting me upon arrival to the office.  My counterpart in marketing and I went for coffee.  I recalled to her a conversation we had when we last traveled together in March.  My quote:  "I could lose my dog, my job and my mom all in one year"  (My mom is still living as of this blog--she's 91).  Well my dog was gone and my job had been diminished from that of a well respected business development professional to a mundane overpaid customer service rep.  It was just a matter of time now that I would not be needed.

On Thursday of that week they called to tell my the Big Guy's ashes and paw print were ready to be picked up at my vet.  I took the day off and went over mid morning to miss the morning rush.  When I walked into the office who would have thunk that a black standard poodle was standing at the front desk as her owner paid the bill.  Oh yeah,  I lost it.

Spring turned to summer and I still was asked to make the occasional business trip.   Even though my work had diminished I was still considered the resident expert in my product line and would be representing the company at our very largest show in the month of July.  No I didn't need a dog but funny how I kept viewing that website where that puppy was now getting older.  I also noted that more puppies were due and would be available the first week of Sept.  Whew,  okay, well maybe now I can talk to her,  after all I can get a puppy in September.

The email read something like this:

Hi,

My name is Cyndi Schmidt and I recently lost my standard poodle after 12 years.  A couple of years back I met a Tibetan Terrier in Florida and they quickly moved to the top of the list.

When can we talk?


The response:

Hi,

I would love to talk but we are moving this weekend.  Here is my puppy application, can you fill it out and get back to me.  When we get settled in why don't you come see the puppies I have,  they are 6 weeks old an pretty cute at this age.

Linda.


Me:

Excellent I would love that.  Talk to you next week.

Cyndi

Remember what I said earlier,  you don't go look at puppies, you go BUY puppies.







  

The Story Continues....

Well,  I headed home from Houston the night the Big Guy died.  Exhausted, worn out and grieving I arrived home at about 10 p.m.   The next morning I was lost as my habit was to jump out of bed and go get Sorbo.  It was a beautiful May morning so I took solace in walking through my gardens checking out the new life that bursts out every Minnesota spring.

That afternoon I met some friends after work.  We talked and laughed and had a very good time.  Eventually the topic of what next came up.  Would I get another dog immediately or would I wait?  I would wait,  after all it was my busy season and I couldn't get a puppy now, I would be gone almost constantly until the end of July.  Little did I know my fate had already been sealed. 

My friends asked what kind of dog would I get,  another poodle, or something different?  This is the first time since Dec 2006 I told anyone else:  I'm thinking about a Tibetan Terrier.  A what? Never heard of it,  were my friends replies. Me:  A Tibetan Terrier a small (relative to an 85lb poodle) non shedding breed.  I met one in Florida a couple of years back. Them: What do they look like?  Me:  I have a blackberry let me google it and see if I can find a picture. 

Google search "Tibetan Terriers Minnesota"  Website located:  http://www.sheytibetanterriers.com 
Message on website:  Puppies due late April, early May

Oh oh!

My Story

My TT story starts Dec 2006 in a small shop in The Villages, Florida.  But first a little bit about me and my dogs. 

 It all began in the summer of 1971 when me and a couple of friends headed down to the WestGate mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota for a crazy daze sale.  As a part of the event a local dog training school was giving obedience demonstrations with Standard Poodles and German Shepards, additionally they had a drawing for a free 10 week beginner’s obedience class.  Nope, I didn’t win it but one of my friends did, she didn’t have a dog but I did, so she gave the prize to me.  

Now, being the youngest child of nine and my Dad having his plumbing and drain cleaning business run from our home my childhood was chaotic at best, but every Wednesday night for the next ten weeks either my Mom or Dad took me and Sam (a what I now know to be a Norwegian Elkhound/German Shepard cross) to an old airport hanger for class.  At the end of ten week Sam and I took first place in the graduation obedience match.  I was hooked.

 Pretty soon a female puppy Norwegian Elkhound (Susie) entered my life.  My first AKC registered dog so I could participate in dog shows.  The idea was that we would breed her to Sam.  Tragically Susie chewed through an electric cord outside my dad’s shop and was gone at 10 months of age.  So what does a German father do when his 12 year old baby girl is heartbroken, he takes her out  the next day gets her another Norwegian Elkhound puppy. 

 On Friday May 13, 1972 Susie 2 came home.  We paid $35 for her. I was the only Junior handler in the state of Minnesota to have completed a CDX on the breed at the time. She lived until 1987 and was trained through Utility but never got her UD.    After Susie 2’s retirement in 1976 I decided I needed another dog but wanted one that was more amenable to obedience training. 

 Enter Pyawacket  a blonde wavy coated Golden Retriever.  I paid $150 of my hard earned money for him.  Pdog, as he came to be known, finished his CD and was a great hunter for my brother and a companion for my Dad.

 My life was now filled with college, boys, job hunting and career for the next 9 years.  In 1986 I bought a townhouse in the Twin Cities and Susie and PDog came from my parents house to live with me.  Susie died shortly thereafter and it was just me and PDog. Then the phone rang.  My sister who ten months earlier had purchased a black Standard Poodle puppy was being challenged by his size, intelligence and general unruliness (did I mention she had three girls under the age of 6). 

 Prince came to live with me.  Ok, I couldn’t have a dog named Prince so I changed his name to Tsar.  Tsar cost me $250.  Tsar went to beginner’s obedience class and won his graduation match but that was it, he was a pet and I was a career woman.   PDog died on Nov 23, 1988 and it was just Tsar and an orange tabby named Zeus for the next ten years.  I bought a house with a large yard in December of 1997.  In February of 1998 Tsar stopped eating, after trying everything the very difficult decision was made to put him down.  I vowed to wait awhile before I got another dog.  That vow lasted 3 days.  I located a litter of Standard Poodles in a northern suburb, called a friend and asked her if she wanted to go look at puppies with me that Saturday.  It was at this visit that I realized that you don’t go look at puppies, you go BUY puppies.   

Enter Sorbo the black Standard Poodle, later to become known as the Big Guy.  Pricetag $400 (are you noting a trend here?)  Sorbo had no formal classes and was just a big old pet.  We hung out together for the next 12 years.  Fast forward to Dec 2006, the big guy was nine now, I had a high demand job and needed a break, so I went to Florida with my sisters before year end closings.   I knew that time was catching up on Sorbo and I also knew that there would never be another big guy so my Standard Poodle era would end when I lost him.  There was some thought that I would not get another dog,  then I walked into the aforementioned shop in The Villages Florida….and behind the counter was a shaggy looking little dog called a Tibetan Terrier.  I asked permission to pet him and asked many questions of the two women he was with, thanked them and left.  When I got in the car with my sisters I said “I’ve found my next dog.” 

 Life and work went on until April 15^th 2008 when I was informed that my job would be eliminated sometime in the next two years.  Over the next thirteen months, I being a good employee did what I was asked to migrate my job into the greater organization.  On one of my last business trips in May of 2009 my cell phone rang in my hotel in Houston, Texas.  It was the person caring for the big guy calling to tell me he had crossed the Rainbow bridge.  Just 8 days before that tragic event a puppy had been whelped in Chaska,  Minnesota.  His name was Diesel, a Tibetan Terrier.  And so it begins…..