The Truth About Puppy Love and Destiny

Several months ago, my family began the quest of finding another dog to bring into our family.  It was a decision that we made after one of our cats, Harley, suddenly became very ill with an aggressive form of cancer and very sadly, passed away within weeks.  It was another lesson in the absolute fragility of life, which has become an all too familiar theme in our lives over the past year.  

It is not as if we do not have a home that is filled with furry and feathery family members.  With four cats, one dog and two birds, our home is constantly brimming with life even when we are not in it.  To me, the soul of a home can be felt through the animals which reside there.  And our home certainly has lots and lots of soul.  Lots of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder earth-moving soul, but after hearing about so many unwanted and abandoned animals that were filling the animal shelters because of the down-turn in the economy, my heart just ached.  It ached for the owners who legitimately had to give their beloved pets up because of extreme hardship, but more so, it ached for the animals who might never have a chance to love.  A chance to be loved.  A chance to be the soul of a home.  We looked through hundreds of websites, trying to find the right dog.  We spoke to so many wonderful volunteers who desperately wanted to find homes for the animals who were in their care.  Mark and our girls met a number of beautiful, very worthy dogs but for some reason, we were having difficulty finding a match.  One of the reasons our search was more difficult was that we needed to find a dog who was not only person and dog-friendly, but one which was cat-friendly, as well.  We wanted to take in an older dog and we really, really tried to find one, but the cat-friendly criteria was a hard one to guarantee.  Another one of the issues that we kept running up against is that we didn't feel that our home would be the right kind of home for a Pit-Bull.  Mixed, possibly, but definitely not a pure-bred.  Sadly, the shelters are filled with Pit-Bulls and Pit-Bull mixes and although I know that they are just as worthy of loving homes, I could not justify taking the chance of bringing an older dog with an unknown history into our home if the genetics included Pit-Bull.  

When Mark came across a picture of Micah on a rescue website, something in his soulful eyes radiated straight from the photograph right into our hearts.  His name was Marley and he was definitely Rottweiler on his mother's side, but his father's side was unknown.  He was the runt of the litter and much smaller and less aggressive than his siblings, but he was playful and adorable.  After Mark and our youngest Angel went to visit him in his foster home, they came home in love.  A couple of weeks later, without my even meeting him, we went from older dog to puppy, and after the opinion of the vet, the trainer and various other people, we went from NO Pit-Bull to "Boy, Micah sure does look like he has some Pit-Bull in him."

Yesterday afternoon, we received the results of the DNA test that we had done in order to determine what kind of dog Micah really is.  Of course there is no way that someone could even rip this pup out of our arms at this point, but we felt that it was important to know exactly what we might be dealing with in the future.  
But after watching this five month old puppy resting calmly behind a buffet table FULL of food and under little supervision, this past weekend, I realized something very life-affirming.  This very zen puppy was not only here to be a companion, but to teach us a thing or two in the process.  I realized that when you find the right one, it doesn't really matter what the make-up of the genetics might be.  It only matters that you found each other and that when you stared into each other's eyes, you could see your future staring right back at you.  

Oh yes, when I spoke to the Veterinarian's receptionist yesterday, she laughed when she told me that they had received the results for Micah's DNA test.  She laughed because everyone in the office adores Micah.  His clownish nature and cuddly personality are intoxicating and contagious.  The receptionist told me that she was laughing because after reviewing Micah's DNA results, the vet referred to him as a "drug lord's dream dog".  I suppose that after hearing that Micah is a cross between a Rottweiler, and an American Staffordshire Terrier(Pit Bull)/Doberman Pinscher mix, I could appreciate the reference as well as the lesson in irony.  And I could swear that the quiet chuckle which I heard in my other ear, sounded an awful lot like the laughter of God.