Years  ago, my daughter and I fostered puppies for Second Chance Rescue. We failed with the first foster puppy – we just had to adopt Taffy!  I’m not sure why, out of the 20 or so puppies we fostered, we had to have this one. It might have been her short, stumpy, sawed off legs, her tiny ears on her big head, or the fact that all her parts were such a beautiful unsymmetrical mess!  It also didn’t hurt that she was as sweet as they come and as soft as a chinchilla.

About two years ago, I got a text message from Shirley saying, “hey I just got a litter of foster puppies today and one of them reminds me of your old Taffy girl – she’s a short stack.”  That night I went over to hang out with my friend and kiss puppies for the zillionth time.  After being able to resist all those other adorable puppies I’d kissed, I found myself falling in love with this little Taffyish baby dog.  Those short legs!  I knew it wasn’t practical, we didn’t need a fourth dog, so when George said no, even though he never says no, I didn’t push.

The puppies happened to be ready to go off to their new homes right around Christmas time, and my wonderful husband had not yet shopped for me (that’s usually a Christmas Eve chore).   So when Shirley told me she found a great family for my puppy, one that lived in Sebastopol and had two kids, she wasn’t lying.  I was happy for them, sad for me.  I was happy that my favorite puppy was getting a loving home.  Sad that it wasn’t my home.

On Christmas Eve, George walked in the door with my beautiful Dr. Seuss puppy “Evie”, wearing a huge red bow around her neck, and blew me away!

Written by Janet Palma