When the vet said that it was time to begin looking for a new puppy, we were shocked. After all, Serendipity is not "old" - she just turned eight in November, 2010. By all appearances, she is a strong dog in the prime of life. But as our vet looked at her big feet with toes no longer tightly arched and the slight curve in her back above her hips, he didn't like what he saw. "We want to prevent any displacia as long as we can," he said, and we could not disagree. So we began the search for a mostly-shepherd, non-pedigreed, big strong puppy.
We weren't in any hurry. I began looking at the lists of puppies available in the classified ads in the local papers and on the Internet. I sent out feelers to breeders of Shiloh Shepherds, which I've admired for years. Maybe a breeder had a puppy with some cosmetic flaw? A puppy returned by a fickle buyer? Or maybe a bitch was expecting a litter by accident? No such luck.
Then I began contacting shelters and rescue groups throughout Arizona... and New Mexico ... and Utah ... and Colorado ... and Southern California. Somebody, somewhere, must have a mostly-Shepherd puppy with that wonderful working dog sense of duty, with a mild temperament and good solid hips. And beautiful, too, please!
It's a shame we weren't looking for a Pit Bull or Chihuahua. In the Southwest Desert, Pitties and Chihuahuas seem to be the preferred dogs. They are certainly the dogs that end up in the shelters most often.
The days went by, then the weeks went by with no puppies appearing that met our criteria. I searched out more rescue organizations and sent out more letters. Then on a Saturday morning in late September we got a phone call. There a puppy on Luke Air Force Base, 15 miles north of us, who was scheduled for euthanasia. A neighbor
had stepped in and called the rescue service. Could I meet them that afternoon?
By suppertime, Dante had found his way home.
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