We started out looking for a medium size, non-shedding, female dog.
Our previous dog was an Australian shepherd. He embodied all the best traits of the breed with a beautiful blue merle coat, incredible intelligence and obsessive loyalty. Our lives have changed since he died.
We are a family with growing children, two busy careers and interests and hobbies to keep all our time more than filled. We live in a house that I am slowly fixing up, and I'm too busy working on other peoples’ homes to get things done as fast as my family might like. Not a formula for being great dog owners.
Problem is, we all love dogs. My younger daughter fawns over dogs wherever we go, and short stories, novels and movies about dogs fill the shelves. I could go on, but you get the picture. When COVID hit we began to search for our next dog, and like many other people we found the waiting lists for all dogs, let alone a non-shedding breed, long and expensive. I told the kids the right dog would come along.
And then one day he did.
We were told about some puppies that needed socializing before being trained. My husband and the kids went and came home talking about the cutest, cuddliest puppy. “Could he come for a weekend visit to help with the socializing?” I said yes. It was only one weekend.
And into my life came the sweetest puppy I’d ever encountered. He was so calm we briefly thought something might be wrong. He played a little and then fell asleep as close to one of us as possible. He followed me around and housebroke himself with only one accident at the back door while waiting to be let out.
But a male Lab with huge paws wasn’t what we were seeking.
We made him ours. He is two inches taller and twenty pounds heavier than his litter mates, and sheds so much I don’t know how he has any coat left. He is also the calmest, most patient, and affection-driven dog possible. He still follows me everywhere and sleeps at my feet.
One night after we’d had him about a year, my husband and I were watching TV. The dog was curled in the corner between the sofa and chair where we sat. My husband said to me, “It feels like he’s been here forever, and he feels like home.”
His name is Norm.
Who wouldn't love Norman?🐕❤️