Nina Stories - The Beginning

We lost our beloved pet and dear friend yesterday. She was my first and only dog, and she was the best. I can safely say that I'll never love another dog like that again, but instead of dwelling on the sadness of it, I prefer to recall what made her the magical Miyazaki creature she was.

The beginning was humble at best. Over the years, we've heard lots of great stories of wonderful dogs who were rescued from the pound or a shelter. That's not Nina's story. Nina's story starts with the first Krispy Kreme in the Chicago area.

Just south of I-55, on Harlem Avenue, I waited in line on one of the first days it was open to try the celebrated hot donuts. The parking lot was full, and I had noticed a sign for a place called Archer Puppies on a previous donut scouting mission, so I pulled in there to try the donuts, then check out the puppies. It was the first of a few visits to the place (both places, if I'm honest).

On one of the trips, I took our video camera along to give Jennie a virtual tour of the place. We had been talking about getting a dog, but the shelters were not helpful because we wanted a puppy. They said that a home with two people working full-time wouldn't be fair to a puppy. (I kind of agree, but we were prepared to make it work - and we ultimately did.)

Archer Puppies was different from most of the other puppy shops I'd been to. Instead of plastic cubicles for the dogs, they had wooden pens with airy chicken wire and fresh sawdust on the floors. Very farm-like. Each time I was there, someone was cleaning something; they were very nice, too. Also, they didn't have any purebred dogs - only mixes - and the prices were fair.

The video went over pretty well, so we visited the store one weekend. We did a couple of laps around the place, and the first time, this crazy little pup was rounding up and cornering its siblings in one pen. When we walked by, she stopped and popped her paws up on the fence, as if to say "check it out - look what I can do!" The next time by, she again stopped what she was doing to pop up and greet us; tail wagging and ears at full attention.

We took a different dog out of the pen and sat with it for a while. It did normal dog stuff. We decided to take the crazy one out and sit with it for a bit. Out of the pen, she was totally different. She shrunk into Jennie and barely moved. We had read "Puppies for Dummies" and some other dumb books about what to look for in a pet, and she checked most of the "avoid" boxes. Skittish, mildly aggressive (with her siblings), energetic, but also frightened in new situations.

Of all the dogs, she clearly stood out to us. It's like she made an attempt to greet us, and we noticed she didn't do the same for other people in the store. But, like most big decisions, we decided to sleep on it and consider our options.

The next day, Jennie had thought about her so much, she was getting upset at the thought that someone else might pick up that little sweetheart. So, we went back. We hadn't noticed that she only had one white paw. We did notice that the second time we played with her, she still stuck with Jennie, but was a little more adventurous. Still, it was very clear that she belonged with us, so we took her home.

On the way, she vomited twice in the car. I don't think it was my driving. It was still pretty cold out, and Jennie had her bundled up in a blanket on her lap. We got back to our house and had nothing prepared for a dog, so I ran out to Petsmart and got some food and a few other things. She was still snuggled up with Jennie in the same spot on the floor when I got home, and a little tentative about me.

We were playing and wrestling before the end of the night. Also, we didn't have a crate, so we kept her in a box with blankets next to our bed for the first few nights. She really, really didn't like being alone in there, so I would sleep with my arm over the side of the bed, hand in the box.

And so, we were off and running. We had just gotten married and bought a townhouse, and now we were expanding our family as well.