I started thinking about how perfect he is for me, and how I couldn't have asked for a better dog. Sure, I wanted a large dog, a lab or Bernese Mountain Dog or something that more resembled a horse than a small stuffed animal. Vinnie is lab/beagle, but of course when I got him he looked like a lab, and I didn't realize he was only going to grow to be, at tops, the size of a very small lab. Sure, he swallows socks from time to time. Sure, he doesn't listen 100% of the time. He's a teenage boy; that's pretty normal. He does his best and he is sweet, loving, affectionate, friendly, happy (no, JOYOUS is a better word), excited, energetic, quirky, etc. etc. etc. He's got so many typical facial expressions that I've started labeling them... His 2 most famous "household name" expressions are "Crazy Eyes" and "Mafia Scowl."
CRAZY EYES
MAFIA SCOWL
He makes me laugh with his antics and mischief. He introduces me to my neighbors, each and every time he approaches one of them with a kiss or a friendly bark. He encourages me to spend more time outside, whether we go to the dog park, take a walk around Woodinville, or just simply walk around our neighborhood a couple times a day. And when I am feeling down, or am taking life too seriously, he will do something to turn my thoughts around. It may be that he will attempt a canon ball off the couch, or drag me into a game of come-get-your-sock, or just come over and kiss my face until I can't help but laugh. He is so full of unconditional love, day after day after day. I know I've posted this before, but it reminds me of this lovely video about qualities of God that dogs demonstrate.
As I was thinking tonight, I realized that the Katie-Vinnie Extravaganza almost wasn't. "What??!" you say. "I can't imagine Katie without Vinnie or vice versa!" Yep, I know. This guy has only been in my life for a little over 2 years, but I feel like he's always been there. He's such a part of me. But I almost took another dog home on the day that I decided to get a puppy.
I had looked for available puppies on www.petfinder.com for months (okay, who I am kidding: YEARS), and when I was finally ready, I found a litter of labrador puppies that had been born 7 weeks earlier. I filled out the online application and heard back from the foster family right away (this litter had been found in Yakima and was staying with a family until all the puppies were adopted). So on January 1, 2010, a friend and I headed to Auburn to look at the puppies.
When we got to the house, we were greeted by the man who lived there, and he led us to the puppies. They were all being kept in a spacious, heated garage attached to the house. I gravited toward a yellow lab right away. I wanted a yellow lab, and this little guy was the only one left. He was in a pen with his litter mates, all smaller black dogs. In the same room were a couple other litters, 1 litter which looked like a Husky mix, the other a Chow/Newfoundland mix. I quickly picked up the yellow lab, and looked into his eyes.
An unexpected thing happened: He didn't do anything. He didn't respond, he didn't try to lick my face, he didn't squirm around. He just let me hold him, but was actually pretty boring. I gave him to my friend to see how he would do with her, and it was more of the same. I looked at him, and pet the top of his head, under his chin, behind his ears. Nothing.
"I don't think he likes me," I told my friend, and then we discussed the fact that maybe he wasn't for me. Well, it wouldn't hurt to pick up a couple other dogs. We put him back in the pen with his siblings, washed our hands, and then picked up one of the Chow/Newfie mixes.
The Chow/Newfie seemed a bit scared at first, but quickly warmed up to me. He kissed me, looked at me, checked out my friend... He was super fluffy, too, and had a great multi-colored coat of black and tan with a little bit of white. So adorable. After holding this squirmy but affectionate puppy for a while, the guy asked me if I had decided. I looked at my friend and she asked what I thought. I nodded. "Yeah, I really like this one," I told the guy, and he went inside the house to get the paperwork and a couple days' supply of food for the puppy.
I looked at the adorable pup in my arms, and then looked at the yellow lab once again. Then back at the one I had chosen. Then back at the lab.
"Here, can you hold him for a second?" I asked my friend, handing her the puppy. After she took him, I picked up the lab again and gave him a kiss. Still nothing.
"You know, he doesn't seem to like me... we have no chemistry. But I think I want him," I said. "Are you sure?" she replied. "Yeah... I don't know much about Chows or Newfies, but I know a lot about labs. And this is the breed that I think would be the best for me."
The guy came back into the garage and I told him I'd changed my mind. He seemed surprised, almost a bit put out, but he made the change. Half an hour later, the 3 of us, my friend, the stoic lab, and myself, climbed into my car and headed towards home.
Halfway home, my puppy's stomach started grumbling. Suddenly, he vomited all over my friend, as she was holding him on her lap in the car. Being a good sport, she started laughing and simply said, "Oh, my!" We pulled over, cleaned up as much as we could, and when we looked back at the pup, we saw that he was holding his stomach. He did, however, have a huge smile on his face.
Little did we know that that was probably Vinnie's first mischevious trick, with many more to follow. We also later surmised that the reason he was so stoic, cold, seemingly unfeeling towards me was probably because he was having some stomach pain. After a couple days of sneezing, lethargy, and being pretty boring overall, Vinnie found his true nature as one who is full of life and love. I am so glad that I took him home, and so glad we have the Katie-Vinnie-Extravaganza so we can navigate this life together.
Vin is adorable
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