Lucy

Gabi had been wanting a small dog for some time. We already had a dog and two cats so I always said no. Well in 2011 she had a golden birthday, 14 on the 14th, and as this only comes around once in a lifetime I knew she needed something special. A puppy. I had seen a picture of a puppy that looked all fluffy like a teddy bear but it did not say what the breed was. It took a couple hours of searching on the internet but I found it, it was a Cavapoo. What’s that you ask? It’s

one part King Charles Cavalier Spaniel

and one part miniature Poodle.

Gabi already had a name for a dog, Lucy. It came from her middle name which is Lucille, after her paternal great-grandmother. One of her nick names was Gabi Lucy. I ran it past Steve and he agreed, reluctantly though. He was worried the excitement of a new dog would wear off quickly and the care of the dog would fall on me. I thought about it for a few weeks and decided that we should do it.

So, in early April, I started a search for Cavapoo puppies. After several days and a lot of research on breeders, I finally found a reputable one in Iowa who had a litter that was three weeks old. There was only one pup left for sale and it was female and the runt, named Tiny. She was born at 6 ounces and was slow to grow. She was not aggressive at meal times so the other pups ate first. The breeder was having to make sure she got her chance. I put a deposit down and he emailed weekly updates. He did not want to let her come home until she was 2 1/2 pounds. Amazingly that happened days before Gabi’s 14th birthday.

Steve and I packed an overnight bag. I packed one for Gabi. We picked her up from her 8th grade formal at 10 o’clock and headed west.

We explained we had a birthday surprise. I had arranged a hotel about halfway, so four hours later we fell into the hotel beds and slept. We had an early wake up call at 6. It was Gabi’s birthday. I had wrapped a box with a dog collar and leash, dog training book, toys and a picture of Lucy.

We had a 4 hour drive to reach the breeders. It seemed to take forever, but eventually we made it. We went inside the house and went through all the paperwork and payment. It was time to meet Lucy. When he brought her out and set her on the kitchen table in front of Gabi, we all just looked at her with disbelief. She was so small and so cute. She was shaking with nerves. Gabi picked her up and snuggled her for a minute and passed her to Steve and I. We all fell instantly in love with her. She was so fragile and scared you couldn’t help but want to protect her.