Going back to Dexter...

This weekend will be Dexter's first time showing in the place he was named after!

I never explained in this blog how Andy and myself ended up with the little pod.

Last year, towards the end of November, Andy and I went to Dexter, MI to vend at the Canine Combustion Dog Agility Club AKC trial. When we got up there, our friend Charlene Wiglesworth was also at the trial. I had met her a few times before, so I went up and said hi, and realized she had a new puppy. The puppy was the CUTEST little ball of energy. Her name was Calypso, and she just stole my heart. She was so outgoing and seemed like she loved life. I had never met a smooth podengo before, and I loved her look. I played with her for a while, fawning over her the whole time. At one point, Charlene says "You know... the breeder has a male littermate left still... and she lives very close to here!"

I was frozen for a minute. As much as I liked little Calypso, honestly at that point getting one (and certainly getting one that DAY) had not really entered my mind. I loved my mom's little Fada, but was LOVING running Panic at 22" and wasn't that interested in getting a small dog. But Calypso was so charming... I think I hemmed and hawed about it long enough, and Charlene called up Carol Sowders. She was home and would be out in a bit with the pods! Oh my.

So, she gets there and unloads Brawny who was very similar to Calypso in body type and coloration - shorter and longer (well probably just shorter so they look longer) with a kind of darker mask over the tan. He was also very outgoing. And then she unloads the other pup, who had no name. He was a red colored one (think vizsla) with a stunning white irish marking pattern. He was longer legged than the other pups too. However, he was terrified. In the x-pen, Calypso and Brawny played and played, and asked to be picked up by the humans. The nameless pup sat in the corner and looked quite concerned. Of course at this point, I was interested in Brawny! Well, turns out at the time there was a concern he might have a problem eating/swallowing (although now we know he was fine and just eating too fast). However I didn't want a dog with a known health issue, so that was out of the question. I felt sad for this scared puppy, and pulled him out of the pen and held him close. I sat on the floor, with him in my lap. I didn't get any licks on the face or tail wags, but he did seem to get a little less nervous. At this point I was set that I was not getting one, after all I didn't need a pup that was that shy.

Andy was done filming whatever class was going on, and came over to meet the puppies. He played briefly with Calypso and Brawny, and then picked up the nameless pup. He cooed at him and petted him and held him for a while. I shared my feelings that I wasn't sure about it and this puppy. However, after I held him for a while and Andy did the same, there was just something about this little guy that was hard to let go of. Charlene also shared that when she got Calypso, she was similarly shy and after a month, you would never have guessed it. Against my better judgement, I talked to Carol and we decided we'd take him home and see how things went. If within a month he didn't come out of his shell though, we'd give him back. If nothing else it would be a good socialization month for him.

For the rest of that day, he sat with me at our vending table, on my lap, and I also walked him around some at the show. He was pretty frightened, but by the time excellent was finished and there were few people left for Open and Novice, he was looking a little more brave.

That night on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Pet Supplies Plus and picked up some essentials for him like a leash, collar, food bowl and some puppy/tiny toys. And of course, his first coat :) After being frozen for a few seconds in the coat, he actually walked surprisingly well in it. And it was very cold outside!!

At the hotel, we opened the crate... and he didn't want to come out :( We finally were able to lure him out with some McDonald's french fries. He sat on the edge of the bed while we crouched on the ground next to the bed so we were eye to eye. I got some cell phone pics to send to my (somewhat shocked) mom (see the pic of him to the right... how could you resist that face?), and tried to get him to play a little. He did play some with his puppy toy, and I got my first kiss from him that night too :)

By morning, we were totally in love with this little guy. I'm not sure if we named him the first day or the next, and I'm not sure what our original name for him was but we didn't like it. We were pondering other names, and I realized we were in the city of Dexter, and that was really a pretty adorable name for such a little guy. So Dexter it was. The next day he opened up a little at the show, and actually did play with his sister some at the site. I was able to get this video of them playing, although he mostly just scratched his collar when we turned the camera on.

There's much more to when we got him home etc, but long story short, once out of the scary echo-y building he was much less scared. It was clear that our "trial" period would be permanent, whether or not he came out of his shell. It did take him a while to come around in strange situations and he still gets a little nervous sometimes. But, he is such an awesome little dog. He makes us laugh every single day. He loves with his whole self, and every morning, afternoon, and night, is just SO excited to see his people. His wiggly tail propelling him high as he bounces up on us. His little belly when he flips over for rubs and stretches out as long as he can. His giraffe neck when he's stretching out after a nap. His penguin waddle when he wakes up in the evening (when he is inevitably sleeping while we watch TV) to go get a drink of water. Although he was certainly not the puppy anyone would have recommended for a performance home based on his personality when we met him, we couldn't be happier with our little dude. Love you little man!!