When I finally had my own house, I couldn't wait to get a dog of my own. I wanted to try a different breed, though. I had my heart set on a Cocker Spaniel. So I researched the local breeders, and started saving up for my new pet. I discovered, however, that sometimes you don't choose your dog, it is chosen for you. And that is how we got Conrad.
One day, I received a phone call from one of my grooming customers. She worked across the street from the dog pound, and from her office window, she watched a man park at the shelter and get out of his car holding a little red poodle. My customer couldn't bear to see a poodle go to the pound, so she rushed out to stop him. He gave her the dog and told her he and his wife were splitting up and neither could take the dog. My customer told me over the phone that she wanted to bring him over to be groomed, and that if I wanted him, I could have him. If I didn't, she would keep him. She brought him over, and told me his name was Conrad. Now, I wasn't interested in starting over with a Poodle again. I wanted a spaniel. But by the time I was finished grooming him, I knew that this was my new pet.
Of course, once you get one dog, you usually find that they are lonely when you work all night and sleep by day, so we found another free poodle. They can deal with just about anything, as long as they are with their people. Here we are in our house which was being completely ripped apart and remodeled. I was pregnant at the time. And by then, we had 3 poodles.
Conrad was a polite and dignified little dog. He accepted the new baby, and liked to stay as close to the action as possible.
Conrad was a funny dog. He took great delight in hiding from us, sometimes in plain sight. We looked for him for hours before we found him hiding among the weeks-worth of newspapers in the living room. Another time, he crawled between the fridge and the wall and stayed there all day while we frantically searched for him. He also liked to chase skunks, and never seemed to learn that they spray you and that it hurts when they do that. And he also was an excellent climber. He would escape from the backyard and then hide in the front yard. In later years, we would utilize the services of our cat Nala to help us find him when he escaped outside.
Conrad liked story time as much as Carl did.
Of all the Poodles, Conrad was the only one who didn't pull at his leash when we took our daily walks. He was obviously well trained by his first owners. Where the two girls were daffy and hyper and mostly untrainable, Conrad was calm and intelligent. We never really knew how old he was when we got him in 1989. He was at least 1 year old, maybe older. The years went by so quickly, and as his beautiful hair turned from red to almost white, he started going deaf and walking stiffly. He stopped playing his hide and seek game with us in 2001, and we no longer had to worry about him climbing the fence. As he became more weak and feeble, I knew the day was coming when I would have to have him put to sleep. But I just couldn't stand to think about it. I hoped he would just go to sleep on his own, but he didn't. And when he fell over and couldn't walk a few days before halloween in 2003, I knew I couldn't deny it any longer. I waited for Carl to come home from school so he could say goodbye to him. Carl hugged him and tearfully told him he had been a very good dog, and that we loved him. And then I took him to his final vet visit. It was the hardest thing I have had to do.
Conrad lived at least 15 years, which is pretty good. But it went so quickly. The vets office sent me a condolence card and it meant alot to me. Since then the other two have died as well, and I am dogless again. I do want to get another one, and someday I'm sure I will. But I am not seeking one. I have a feeling that one day, when I least expect it, the perfect dog will once again be chosen for me by fate, just like Conrad was. I sure hope so, anyhow. I can't wait to see what I get next time.
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