Picture It: Summertime, Father's Day Weekend. A family enters Petland to play with some puppies. One particular puppy they decide to pet is a black cocker spaniel. The family had wanted a cocker spaniel for a while, but they had 2 black labs at home named Skye and Diamond who were aged.
Furthermore, the family wanted to care for those backyard girls as long as they could. Just one month prior, Diamond had her last day, and Skye had preceded her the summer before. The family had grieved. Skye was 13 when she passed, and Diamond was 14. The owner continued to look at the back door and would go and try to feed Diamond, but there was no dog out the back door anymore.
Returning to the current time and place, Petland Summer 2019. Those eyes. We left, as the price of that puppy was unimaginable. Those eyes. I could not get them out of my mind. My family had made up their mind that she was ours. I decided to post on Facebook very casually, "Has anyone ever purchased a dog through Petland?" And the page BLEW up! Puppy mills, adopt don't pay, save the ones at the Humane Society, etc. I had to take the page down, and on Sunday when Jason said, "I don't know what is taking so long. Go get the dog." I knew no matter what I thought that we were getting a dog. It helped that Petland continued to drop the price and work with us on financing to make it something we could afford. We were getting a dog. And not just any dog, but an INSIDE dog that was 3 months old, and I was supposed to train her.
Those eyes. I still love those eyes, behind all those black curls. We named her Oakland, as my husband is a Raiders fan. It fits her, and we have given her many nicknames. Oaken, Oakey-Pokey, Oakey-Poke, etc. We have our good days and our bad days. Overall, she is potty trained, and she resides in our kitchen still far too often. Basically, because she is very good at fetching lots of things she still shouldn't. Oakland loves her chew toy keys and lying on the couch. Hilariously, she has many traits of a rabbit from bouncing around the couch and eating carrots, potatoes, and lettuce. She is one lovable pup, and Buh Buh BUH BAH!!! Today, is her FIRST BIRTHDAY!
HAPPY BIRHDAY, OAKLAND!
I can't believe Oakland is a year old already! She is beautiful and I have her eyes stuck in my head now! I'm glad you decided to go get her. I feel a person has a right to purchase a pet wherever they want and shouldn't be forced or be made to feel bad because they didn't adopt one at the shelter.
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