On a rather lonely, quiet day, almost four years ago, I decided to head to a local mall. The very beginning of September, it was still extremely hot here and I had grown tired of doing my daily walk in the heat. I decided to change up the scenery a bit and be a “mall walker” for the day, where I could take advantage of the air conditioning. And so I made my rounds of the mall, back and forth, up one side and down the other… It got to be pretty boring, but I figured I was at least getting some exercise and I was staying out of the heat. Right at the very beginning of one side of the mall sat a little pet shop. I had been in there before.. a small shop that had a small number of puppies. I’m not exactly sure what led me to stroll into that pet shop that particular day. I may have been bored with the walking or perhaps just curious about what kind of little pups happened to be there. Whatever it was that made me put one foot in front of the other to enter, I’m still not sure, but once inside, I began to check out some of the cute little pups. It was mid afternoon, so many of the puppies were in the midst of their afternoon naps. I honestly don’t remember how many pups there were or what breed they all were… all except for one particular little pup, lying there, fast asleep – A little black cocker spaniel pup, cute as could be! As I’d been a mom of two cocker spaniels in the past, I was drawn to this little guy. Ever since I was a little girl, I’d loved cocker spaniels. I love their sweet little faces and sad looking eyes… Almost immediately upon laying my eyes on this little guy, I knew I was in trouble. We’d lost our sweet Maggie a little over a year previous to this. She had been with us for fifteen years – a very sweet courageous girl, who had fought valiantly for a number of years with Cushing’s disease and then a cancer. She had been a wonderful little trooper with a heart of gold and a champion’s spirit. But we had decided after Maggie passed that we couldn’t put ourselves through the pain and heartbreak of loving and losing another dog. Even though I loved dogs, I had kept myself from thinking about getting another dog and had stayed away from any kind of temptation… until this particular day. I asked the shopkeeper a few questions about that cute little cocker pup. I learned that he had just come to the shop in the last couple of days. She showed me a paper that told about his breeder and some other pertinent facts. I knew that it was never recommended to get a puppy from a pet shop. I knew all those warnings quite well… And I also knew that we had decided we wouldn’t get another dog. But when I left that pet shop that day, I could not keep myself from thinking about that sweet little black cocker pup. When my husband got home that evening, I mentioned the little puppy to him. He immediately reminded me about our decision and talked about how having a dog again would tie us down and make it more difficult to go out of town. As we live far away from our children and grandchildren, we travel out of town quite frequently to visit them. Having a dog around makes that whole process more difficult. And I agreed with him… but I still continued to think about that little pup.
I was successful at staying away from the pet shop that next day, but I still thought about the pup and wondered if he was still there. Perhaps someone had already bought him and he was the new pet of someone else, I thought to myself. That thought comforted me a little because I knew that if he was already someone else’s pet I wouldn’t have to think about him being mine anymore… but it also made me very sad.
By the next day, my curiosity got the best of me. Although it was a Saturday, I remember that my husband had something to do at work that morning. While he was gone, I snuck over to that pet shop. I just couldn’t help myself. I had to see if that little pup was still there! I remember being a little nervous about the whole thing, but I kept telling myself that if he was gone, the whole thing was just not meant to be, and that was that! I walked rather briskly from my car to the shop, just a few minutes after 10:00, right after it opened. I do remember thinking to myself, “What are you doing? You’re setting yourself up for trouble here!” I walked rather cautiously into the shop and sauntered my way to the little crates where the puppies were kept. And lo and behold… there he was! Little black puppy was still there and he was wide awake! I watched him for quite awhile… He seemed quite rambunctious and curious and very smart! Oh boy, I had really set myself up for trouble here! So… I asked a few more questions about black puppy and I explained the situation to the girl who worked in the shop. I told her that I might be bringing my husband to see the puppy later that day, but I didn’t make any promises. She just smiled… I think she knew that I’d be back! At that point in time, I might add, the little black puppy was “mine”, in my mind at least!
And so, the next few hours were spent talking to my husband, telling him the whole story about how I went back to see the pup… And then we proceeded to drive around for at least an hour, debating and arguing… In the end, we went back to the pet shop, and once again, the little black cocker spaniel puppy was still there (to my relief). When my husband held the pup and he proceeded to get his entire face licked, I kind of figured that it was a done deal… And so, after signing all the papers and buying some essentials like food, some bowls, a collar and a leash, we headed home with the little black puppy. I honestly remember saying, “I’m so happy!” We were both happy! And we decided on the way home that puppy’s name would be Tucker.
Now, anyone who knows me knows about Tucker.. In the almost four years that we’ve had him, he has become my sweet best friend, my walking partner, my baby boy, and I might add, a star on Facebook from all the photos I’ve posted of him! He is my constant companion… No, I’m not the kind of lady who carries him around in my purse or anything. He’s too big for that, anyway! But he has made my life so much more complete. Although I’m a grandmother of six wonderful grandchildren, they are all far away, and I miss them very much. I have Tucker around, however, and we joke sometimes that he is a “substitute grandchild”. He is, however, the greatest little guy – mellow, sweet, and I must say, he loves me, which is simply lovely. I might add that my husband loves him dearly as well! Yet, as anyone knows who has pets around the house, over time we get very used to them being around. And although we know we love them very much and treat them very well, our pets can become a bit “taken for granted”. The excitement of having a new puppy is over after awhile, and we all settle into real life… the same routines. It’s the same for all of us – people with people, people with dogs or pets… we all get used to having one another around! It’s just part of life, unfortunately.
And then sometimes, something a little out of the ordinary occurs… In my case, it was finding a little lump on Tucker’s left side last week when I picked him up. I’d never felt it before! I felt it again and again! I could have sworn that it hadn’t been there even the week before! And then, a little panic began to make itself known… Although we know that the lumps that can form on a dog’s body can be harmless, we also know that they can be a warning sign for bad things like cancer. All of a sudden, we become a nervous wreck thinking it’s a sign of the worst. And with this terrible thought in mind, our little friend suddenly becomes the very most important thing ever on the face of the earth! We dote on him, making sure he’s perfectly comfortable every second of the day, we give him many more kisses and hugs than we normally do, and we begin to imagine our life without him and know that it would be horrible…
In our case, after taking Tucker to the vet the very next day and having tests completed, we now know that his lump is due to a sebaceous cyst, which can form quite easily in dogs, and is not a serious condition. Our other dogs had actually formed these as well, but they were older when they occurred. We are quite relieved to know that Tucker will be fine. We will hopefully have many more years with our dear pup. And we are thankful.
Of course, since I’ve found that Tucker is going to be okay, I’ve already found myself becoming a little less attentive to his every need. I’m not doting on him every second. And although I give him kisses and hugs, I’m not handing them out quite as much as I was when I feared that I might be losing him. I know it’s just human nature… We don’t totally appreciate someone until we think we’re going to lose them. We take many of our best friends and loved ones for granted… until we do lose them! When we have a new love and everything is fresh and new, we give this love all of our attention and time, but when time moves on a little, we become less attentive, less willing to give of ourselves.
The funny thing is… Tucker has never stopped giving me all of his love and devotion. His attention to me has never waned. He still sits by my feet and looks lovingly into my face, just as he always has. He follows me everywhere I go and cries when I leave the house. He seeks to protect me just as much as he ever did and he is as loyal of a companion as ever… We could all probably learn a lesson from our pets. I’ve only had dogs, so that is all I know… but it is no wonder why they are our best friends. They are there for us always, unconditionally… loyal and devoted. Their love for us doesn’t ever seem to grow old… We are never “taken for granted”. I couldn’t be happier that we brought home the little black puppy from the pet store.. my little “love at first sight”. I can only hope to be as loyal and loving and devoted to him as he is to me.

~ Carole Carter – words and photographs
~ Jim Carter – photograph