Adding to Our Nest: The Oscar Chronicles

“No one goes to that store just to LOOK, Michelle,” my friend Debbie would later remind me, but that day, in the crowded pet store filled with tiny kittens and wagging tails, that was truly my intention.  As my daughter and I oohed and aahed at the balls of fur and teeth, we looked across the room and saw a tiny face – smaller than any dog we had ever had, but clearly full of personality. The information card said he was a Havachon (a Havanese – Bichon cross), his sable-colored fur soft as a cloud, and as we watched him tussle with his siblings, we fell head-first in love. We held him and hugged him and took pictures, and I breathed in that sweet puppy breath. The store was about to close, so with one last kiss, we put him back in the enclosure. My last view as we walked out the door of our local pet store was of a little face with black button eyes searching mine, tiny bear-like paws pressed up against the glass.

It had been a long journey to that day.  Earlier in the year, I had tentatively asked our vet, Dr. A, about getting a second dog as a companion for our sweet Rosie. With our now empty nest, it seemed like a natural next step, but I was reluctant to make a change to our current pet dynamic.  I broached the subject gingerly, half hoping the vet would discourage me.  Instead, Dr. A replied with a grin, “I think it would change Rosie’s life.” For every reason I had why NOT, Dr. A had two more reasons why it would be amazing. Dr. A suggested getting a male dog, preferably someone much smaller than our very large doodle, to make the transition easier. Rosie and I left the office that day deep in thought – Rosie because she had endured another checkup and vaccines, and me, wondering about adding to our family.

As winter faded slowly into spring, thoughts of another dog went on the back burner. Life moved like it was on fast forward: there were projects and travel and graduation and college girls moving back home. All that came to a grinding halt in early June, when some dear family members unexpectedly lost their beloved dog.

Suddenly waiting didn’t seem like such a good idea, because life has a way of reminding you about how quickly things can change.

The next morning after the pet-store visit, I woke up thinking I’d lost my mind.  Surely we couldn’t pick the first puppy we’d met. I had been gearing up for meticulous research and an overload of information. Knowing that the puppy we couldn’t forget was right down the street, I stepped up my search in earnest, checking the entire mid-State area for available rescues. We visited the local shelter, but there were no small dogs or puppies available, or anywhere else in the mid-State area.  While it was a wonderful sign for our community, it meant we were out of options, at least in the short term.

Driving away from the shelter, my dear husband said, “Well, do you want to go back to the pet store, just to look?” Of course I did.  We walked in and there he was – our little prince charming, sleeping next to his sisters. Todd (who had seen the pictures the day before and proclaimed, “That’s our dog!”) seemed just as charmed as we were, and our other daughter, seeing him for the first time, was smitten.  After a flurry of paperwork, we were driving home with our new, very tiny baby.
 

When we walked in with the new puppy, Rosie’s expression was priceless: she literally grinned. She snuffled his neck and belly, and lay on the floor watching him as he slept. We had been warned it would take up to two weeks for them to get along.  Instead, it was instant friendship. Oscar Wilde, as he soon became known, was Rosie’s biggest fan and the little brother Rosie had been waiting for.

Most days it is chaos in our house.  Long nights with a new baby led to teething and chewing everything in sight, potty training and learning to walk politely on a leash.  But despite all that, I wouldn’t change a thing… and despite the frayed tail, the stolen toys, and the spitty, chewed-up ears, neither would Rosie.

To see more adventures of Rosie and Oscar, follow them on Instagram at Bean and Sprout.