Chapter Fifty One

At last it was time to choose what kind of dog we wanted! We were so excited!  For the past several months we have been hinting to Esther that we wanted a dog and she finally agreed.  Sometimes we thought we wanted a puppy and then training would come to mind so maybe we should get a dog about a year old.  The Robertson family has had three poodles over a period of twenty-nine years but none of them live here now.    It has been many years since Esther bought a dog and she didn't have to decide on the breed.  She knew she wanted a poodle and told us of the many merits that breed has to offer but a poodle wasn't what we had in mind.

The neighbor's dogs weren't what we had in mind either.  We did enjoy playing with them even if we had to stay on  one side of the fence and them on the other.  They seemed friendly enough but Esther said sometimes dogs don't like strangers to go on their property.  They can be very protective.  

One morning she was going to the shopping center and said we could go along since there was a store there that sold pets or maybe it was just pet supplies.  That way we could look at a variety of dogs. We were anxious to go but disappointed that none of the dogs  appealed to us, however, we did think it would be a great place to get supplies once we had our dog.

On the way home we stopped at a Barnes & Noble book store and Esther bought us a book on various breeds of dogs.  We enjoyed reading it and it did make it easier to decide what breed  of dog we wanted.  After looking at the whole book we all three agreed on a corgi!  We wanted a girl corgi and we started to think what we should name her.   Esther  said it might be a good idea not to name the dog until we actually saw it.  Sometimes a name will just seem appropriate when you see the dog, just like Hittys.

Esther made some inquiries and found us just the dog we wanted!   We were so excited.  After all these months at hinting for a dog and then to think we really were going to get one!

There is an airport in Zelienople and we insisted on going along to see if our dog was on the plane that came in.  We saw a man carrying a pet crate and wondered if this was our dog.   We could hardly wait to see what was in the crate!

Sure enough! Our dog had arrived!  We didn't know how well she had traveled and how she would act in a car so we had to leave her in the crate until we got home.  She came out of the crate very slowly  and just sat there looking around. As soon as we saw her we thought of a name.  She looked so much like the corgi in the books Esther had about Tasha Tudor that we decided to name her Tasha. 

She seemed so relieved to be out of that crate.  Esther cautioned us that it sometimes takes a bit of time for a dog to get comfortable with its surroundings and the people around it but Tasha didn't remain strange for very long!  In fact, she became quite frisky!   HittyBelle quickly got a ball and began rolling it to her.  She looked up at HittyBelle and then the ball and soon decided it was her toy! 

We wanted to take her outside.  Esther told us that we are never to take her outside without the collar and leash but she didn't think Tasha would need a license.  We have a lot to learn but I am relieved she has had some training

The whole day was spent playing with Tasha.  We have been using a dog bed to keep some of our stuffed animals in but now that we have a dog we  hoped Tasha would like it.    She looked at the bed and we left her to take a little nap.  She seemed tired after such a busy day and we wanted her to have a rest.

After a short while we went to the dog bed and she was gone!  I knew she couldn't have run away, but where was our new dog!  We looked everywhere and finally found her.  It appears she preferred sleeping on the  bed!  Tasha is going to be a very pampered pet!

(Tasha was created by Sylvia Mobley a Fellow in the  International Guild of Miniature Artisans)