Now you may ask, in fact, I was asking, "Why would we want to add a puppy to this mix?"
The answer was simple. When Austin, the oldest boy, was four he asked his mother for a puppy. He did not ask just once but he asked daily, sometimes several times a day. So Mom did what any good mother does when asked a question over and over. She used the stall answer, "Austin you can have a puppy when you are ten." Now there are two reasons to give the stall answer. First, you really can't do whatever at that point in time and you intend to do it later. Second, you hope the child will forget he asked the question.
So now we fast forward. Austin came to Mom about a month ago and said, "Mom you know it is almost my birthday." Mom, "Yes, it is." Austin, "I will be ten." Mom, "I know, you will be ten isn't that great. You are really growing up." Austin, "Well you know what that means." Mom, " No what?" Austin, "It means, I get a puppy."
WHAT?! HE REMEMBERED! Who would have thought that a four year old would remember! It had been six years!
Now Nana and Pepe' were not too thrilled. You see Nana and Pepe' are not dog people, they are cat people. Dogs, they say, are too demanding. You have to walk them, you have to play with them, they jumped on you, they want attention. Cats on the other hand, can be ignored. In fact, cats prefer to be ignored! You put a little food out and you are good to go. But a promise had been made. So began the search for a puppy. They did request a small dog, one that could be kept inside. This thrilled Austin who had visions of caring his new treasure like a baby and having a companion for those long nights.
Finally, the perfect dog was found. A beautiful, copper colored Pomeranian. She was 8 months old, house broken, had all of her shots, and was relatively inexpensive. After looking at her picture, Austin chose to name her Penny.
So it was that Penny, the Pomeranian Puppy (yes an alliteration) came to live with the Duso clan. When we got her she was the exact color of a shiny new penny so Austin had chosen well. She is a natural fit with the family. She loves the boys and can even wear them out. Pepe', who is secretly a dog person, is thrilled with his new pal. Mom is happy she could keep a stall promise made so long ago.The cats are getting use to this shaggy noisemaker. And Nana, well,don't tell the others, but she likes this new puppy, too.
