Finding Von
It was a brisk early November morning, Paige, my fiancée and I had Just returned from a terrible trip to the East Coast. On our way through New York, just outside of Massachusetts, on a rainy day, we hit a pothole the size of Texas. It bent both the rims on the left side of my Buick and blew my front tire. We veered across to lanes of traffic to a crowd of cars on the shoulder of the road. They had met the same fate as us. After 2 hours on the side of a 5 lane New York highway our goal was to find a tire shop. Luckily, we were able to find tire for an affordable price.
I won’t even cover what else happened during our trip, that is a whole different story.
Anyways… So, we arrived back in our little city in Michigan to our geriatric Border Collie, Basedgod. He was very happy to see us. Unfortunately, there were several dozen furry little friends who weren’t as happy to see us. In our haste packing up the car to leave for our wonderful trip, we had left the door open to our tiny little house. Unbeknownst to us, a husband-and-wife mouse scurried their way inside to make our home theirs. They had a better time than we did in Massachusetts’s because they consummated their marriage, had babies and their babies had babies. and their babies… you get the point.
Lightly put, we had a mouse problem. My solution? Get a cat. Queue Paige and I travelling to the local animal shelter in which I volunteer.
They had two cats. Both with no claws, both with no interest in hunting nor in living with a dog. Naturally as one does at a shelter, we checked out both the cat side and the dog side. You see, I was hesitant to enter the dog side, because I had just lost my best friend in the whole world 3 months prior. His name was Dillenger, a Black and Tan Coonhound. May he forever rest in peace.
The kennel attendant was excited to show us that they just got in a litter of puppies. There were three little 3-month-old rascals- John, Michael and Wendy. Wendy was in the process of adoption with another family. Michael was marked as “on hold” due to medical issues with his tongue. So, the dog we thought was John was brought out to us. Upon checking the cute little guy out, I found that this was not John, it was Michael. He had a large black mark on his tongue, which I didn’t find too concerning, but apparently the shelter staff did. They quickly apologized and went back to the kennel to retrieve the real John.
John came through the door with the happiest face I’d ever seen on a puppy. He ran into my arms and peed all over me. I was marked. This boy was exuberant, and his kisses were numerous! He had won my heart. But one must not adopt a dog with their heart, they must use reason. After the kennel attendant took John back, Paige and I came to the agreement we would take the weekend to think it over.
Over the weekend our love for that little puppy grew at an exponential rate. We came to the decision if he was still available after the weekend was over, we would come back and take a second look. We were both convinced a dog like that wouldn’t be in the shelter for very long. Monday couldn’t come fast enough.
The shelter opened at 1 that Monday and we were there five minutes early. We waited patiently in the adoption room as the staff debated if John the “lab mix” was still available…
HE WAS! He busted in the room with such remembrance, we know this dog was ours. The paperwork filled itself out and John found himself a new home. 2 days later the name Von was thought up, very fitting for the big-purebred Staffordshire Terrier he would become. Since that day Von has been my best friend. he trusted me with his whole heart and has helped me to fully master my training techniques.
I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation, but he was born the day after we lost my sweet Dillenger. I am so thankful that things happen the way they happen.