This is Penny (short for Penelope). We were driving back and stopped at a rest area in Pennsylvania. Getting back to the car, I pointed out a car to Charlie at the back corner where there were a couple of puppies. They looked like they might be boxer puppies, so we walked back to investigate. As we arrived, she opened another crate and a small flood of boxer puppies came out -- there were about 10 in all. We mentioned that we had a boxer and we talked a bit about how wonderful boxers are. She put out some food and water and tried to ride herd on the puppies as they romped on the grass. First Lucy, then Alisa and Daniel eventually came over and, after asking to make sure it was OK, we played with the puppies and helped her keep them out of the parking lot and some icky food that they had found in the grass. The boys wanted to buy one, of course. Someone else drove up and asked about buying one, but she told them they were all spoken for. She admitted to us that it wasn't specifically true, but that she didn't usually sell them to people at a rest area. But the children were very persuasive. Oh -- and did I mention that Alisa has been wanting to get a puppy? She's been talking about getting some other weird kinds of dog, but has been exploring rescues and other avenues as well. And there was one little girl puppy that was really cute. It was karma! It was fate! It was kismet! (see below) We talked to the woman for a while and eventually persuaded her to sell us one. It certainly made the drive home a lot more interesting than it might have been otherwise. She is simply adorable. It was an unbelievable finale to what has been an already incredible vacation.
Tomorrow, BioQUEST.
we do have the following evidence that it was meant to be:
- although we are not a cell phone family, we do have a TracFone in the car for emergencies, which we offered to the owner when she was regaling us with the tale of how the puppies had knocked her coffee into her cell phone and fried it, and she was on her way to buy a replacement phone
- the original breeder on the AKC papers has the last name Laycock, which is Alisa's great-aunt's husband's name, that she's never heard anywhere else
- the owner used to work at UMass-Worcester
- the owner's mother was with her, and Lucy was with us
- the owner's mother lives in eastern Massachusetts (as does Plato's breeder)
- the owner is an RN (as is Plato's breeder)
- we had the checkbook with us (because Alisa was paying bills during the drive down)
- we had been to the ATM once during the trip -- just the day before -- so we had an ATM slip showing the check would be good
- we had made an extra stop for lunch, because the place Alisa thought looked good from the interstate sign seemed weird to her inside, so she insisted we leave & look for a another place further along in our travels (if we had eaten there, we would have 1) missed Penny 2) missed Godfather's Pizza)
- we were on our way home, not on our way to vacation
- Steve knew he could miss the first sleepless nights of a puppy because he was headed to BioQUEST
- we believed the owner's sincerity in stating that she had never made such a transaction before (normally thoroughly vetted people by phone, waiting list, etc) & she believed that we are not the sort of people who would normally buy a dog at a rest stop
- we had commiserated about how hard it was to find a proper boxer pet when of course you aren't supposed to buy from pet stores, or puppy mills, or breeders who are breeding for show rather than for temperament, and that we'd had to work hard to get Plato, and this owner clearly had family-raised puppies
- all the puppies agreed to let all of us handle them, and Penny seemed especially comfortable with Daniel
- Alisa wanted a lap dog, and Penny looks like she'll probably be smallish (although still not what a non-boxer lover would call a lap dog)
- we had chosen two girl boxer names quite a while ago: Penny (as in copper, and turning up) and Daphne (as in daffy)
- we thought a female dog would be best to bring home to our (neutered) Plato, and the owner said she hardly ever has females, but had several this time
- the one puppy we had taken a particular shine to (nonverbally; don't think we dropped any clues) was one of the few that weren't spoken for already
- none of the puppy ears were cropped, the owner doesn't like cropped ears, and of course we don't believe in cropping ears either (Plato isn't cropped)
- Penny's markings are nearly identical to Plato's (although her eyes are lighter)
- Charlie was wearing his Plato boxer shirt (
available at CafePress)