HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, PIERRE

Today is Pierre's fourth Birthday. This is the first of his birthdays he has celebrated with me.  I believe that he is a gift from God to me. 

I had put down my previous dog Rickie, who had cancer.  He had out lived two and a half years older than the vet told me he would.  I was heart broken, but I needed another dog to fill my heart.  As Rickie had been a chihuahua, I didn't feel that I could get another chihuahua right now.  The two dogs I had before Rickie had been poodles, so I set my heart on another poodle.

My looking at SPCA and Humane Societys did not produce a poodle. There were many dogs, but not a poodle.  So I made a list of everything I wanted in my next dog.  As I got my previous dogs as puppies, I wanted an older dog this time.  The list was long of what I wanted in my next dog.  I thought I would never get a dog like that.  I wanted a full breed poodle.  On my limited income, I thought it would never happen.  Also I wanted the dog to come to me on Valentine's Day.  I told the Lord this was what I wanted and prayed.

As I belong to a dog club, I put my request on the computer to them.  I had lots of e-mails and looked at lots of dogs, but none were a full poodle.  One friend got on Craig's List.  She would e-mail me anytime a poodle came on.  I would e-mail the people that were selling the poodles.  One never answered me and the other had already sold it.  On Valentine's Day, she e-mailed about a poodle that was on- in the town next me.  It wouldn't come up on my computer so she had to send it to me.  I answered by land line and e-mail.  A while later, I got a call from the lady that owned him.  She explained that she worked 10 hours a day and didn't feel he was not getting all the attention he should. She also said one problem with him is he hogs attention. 

I was told to come over and see him.  My car was in the garage getting new brakes on it, so I asked if I could come tomorrow.  She asked where I lived and brought him over.  I waited on the street in from of our building until she pulled out.  Pierre (them called Tido) jumped out of the car and ran right to me, jumping on me like we were old friends.  When we went into my apartment I couldn't find him-the lady said to look on my bed-and sure enough there he was like he lived here.  The price she wanted was within my budget, but being a Christian I wanted to pray about it.  She said she would hold until the next day.

The next morning she called and asked me if I wanted and when I said yes, she said come and get him.  When my car was delivered-over I went and got him.  She said he had all his shots-two years ago and hadn't been groomed in ages.  I took him home, called the vet and the next day he went for all his shots.  Then he went to the groomers where he was groomed.  I didn't recognize him when I went to pick him up.  I almost took the wrong dog-but the groomer stopped me and gave me Pierre.

I wish Pierre could talk and tell me about his life before I got him.  There were two previous owners.  My vet says he was show dog, as she took him through all the moves in her office.  He does tricks, too.  Where ever he was is over-he is my little boy now.  Before he didn't have toys-now he has a basket full-some from Alaska.  He shares the attendtion that he hogged at his previous home with all the 97 tenants in our apartments here.   Pierre answers every request that I made on my list to God except I asked for a girl and he is a boy-that doesn't matter.  So Happy Fourth Birthday Pierre, the first birthday with me.  I truly believe that Pierre was a gift from God to me.

Marilyn