So, we had talked about getting a puppy for some time. I am the dog person and Sandi is the ultimate cat person. I was leaning towards getting a rescue dog from the pound and then we actually started talking about getting a rescue grey hound. That is until Sandi figured out they are trained to run after little furry things like cats. Our good friends had a big standard poodle, Gabe. Until then I never had given a thought of owning a Standard. I always considered them a wimpy dog. Gabe was anything but wimpy. He was a BIG guy, and very athletic known for chasing deer for hours or, taking ownership of a near by golf couse. So, we narrowed our talks on puppy hood down to those that didn't shed. (Cats shed enough) So....at about this stage of the negotiations, off we go to wine country.


I didn't realize that Sandi had called the DC Poodle Club for breeder referals and had put a deposit down on a puppy with a breeder in Northern Virginia. And here we are, pulling into the driveway and I see what turned out to be the Father in a pen in the back with a few other black/tall Standards. Beautiful dogs. I can't believe Sandi was able to pull this off. She even had lengthy talks with the breeder about our life style and the breeder did testing on the puppies to match us with the one that would fit us best. Not sure if I believe all of that but it sounds good. So, I'm kind of in shock and she opens the door and out pour all the puppies. How cute are poodle puppies anyway? We had decided on a female up front and there were two females in the litter. One of them came to me right away, a big, fat, bundle of joy. Licking non stop. This, of course was not the puppy the breeder had selected for us. The other female was not as fat, actually kind of thin with long legs and very calm. She basically sat and stared at me. This was the one the breeder felt fit us best.
Pick me please!!!!!
I don't know if the breeder knew what she was doing matching this particular pup with us but, I knew it was right from the beginning.

Here I am with the new pup

Off the three of us go, headed for home. One big happy family. First we had to celebrate our new family member and we stop at a local winery in Northern Va. and have a bottle of white out in a field with this little black bundle of joy. I was afraid she would take off but, she sat and just watched us drink our wine. Very laid back I'm thinking.

While we were sipping the wine we started the all important name selection process. This turned out to be a pretty easy choice. Sandi has been a BIG Fleetwood Mac fan and here most favorite song is "Gypsy." So here she is:



GYPSY

Don't you think I'm cute???