"This is a picture of our
Angel. I have an unusual story of how we met, that I would like to
share: "When I was a young girl, we had a Golden Retriever-Lab mix,
we called him Zeke. My younger brother owned him first, as a puppy.
My older brother had a Yellow Lab, he was a Champion of Champions,
hunting on the field, in the water, and at the field trials. Zeke
and the Yellow were very good friends. My father and little brother
tried to teach Zeke to retrieve, but they were not successful. After
some time, I asked if I could have Zeke, for my own. I could train
him. They let me keep him. I taught Zeke to be a well-mannered dog
in the house. I taught him obedience and good citizenship, without
knowing there was even a word for it. I wanted to prove, that Zeke
was a good dog, that he could learn other things, although not
wanting to retrieve."
"About a year later, my little brother got an
American Champion
Blood-Line Black Labrador, he was a young puppy. Zeke and the
puppy had to share a kennel and dog house, and the puppy proved to
be too much for Zeke. He would get mad at the puppy and be pretty
aggressive toward him. My dad and younger brother were afraid Zeke
would hurt the pup. So I was forced to give him away. My heart was
broken, but I did it. I found a wonderful young family that lived on
a farm, in the country. Zeke loved this young couple right away. I
knew Zeke went to an excellent home, but my heart remained broken
for a long time. I loved Zeke and missed him' very much."
"I grew up, married, had children, and realized that my children
seemed to be afraid of dogs. Well the best way to fix that is to get
one. We lived in an area that would not allow large dogs, so a
friend gave us one of his litter of
Lhasa Apso puppies.
Not big at all. Four children grew up loving that little "Tinker
Jingle". During this time, I had become an avid collector of Angels.
The little Lhasa died of cancer, 11 years later. The kids & I loved
that silly little guy very much and missed him. We moved to a larger
house with a big fenced yard. I was still collecting Angels."
"I was wanting another dog. I wanted something different, we always
had males, I wanted a female. I decided, I wanted a large dog,
again. I wanted a challenge, too, but not a
hunting dog. I was
trying to narrow my choices and make a decision. I studied the
non-hunting large breeds and tried to match the breed to my family
and environment. We have a large cat with an attitude. I had to
consider her needs in a large canine friend. I wanted ???? I just
didn't know. After calling about a
Border Collie that
sounded very promising, I asked if the dog would be willing to share
a sunny spot in my living room with a sassy cat? "No! This dog is a
cat killer!""
"So I continued to scan the local paper. One day, I came across an
ad for "Hovawart" Puppies. I thought that was a funny name. So I
called the number, it was about a two hour drive from our home. Our
daughter attended college at this same town, so we were accustomed
to the drive. As I spoke to the lady, I discovered we shared the
same first name, she was very nice. I asked her what she did for a
living and when she told me, I was stunned, because I had a passion
for that non-profit type of work. She did not seem "pushy" that I
take a puppy, in fact, just the opposite. She told me to look up the
breed on the web. She had the mother and father at home with her.
She asked if we were experienced dog handlers. I was..... I
discussed this with my husband and we went to the computer. The
first picture that I saw, was my Zeke, I burst into tears. It was
actually a Blonde Hovawart. I had to see the puppies."
"My husband was starting to get cold feet over the whole thing. He
never really grew up with dogs. He considered himself a "cat
person". But I managed to change his mind. When we arrived at
this home out in the country, we received a warm welcome. The
children opened the door to the puppy room. Out came this beautiful
Black & Tan Hovawart, mother. She was a love. She came over to me,
and we bonded right away. Then came the
puppies! There
were six little balls of bellies and bladders! Three were Black &
Tan and Three were Blonde, like their father. I eventually, asked to
the see the father, too. They scooted the mom back into the puppy
room. The Blonde father came into the house. He was magnificent. He
approached each of us with the intent to greet us. He was beautiful.
Daddy was extremely careful not to step on the babies. I was so
impressed with his massive gentleness, with the pups. The father
went back outside, and the mother came gingerly back into the room,
inspecting her babies. They were all very fine. I announced that we
should like to have a female. There were only two females, both
Black & Tan. The one female's name was Angel. My heart literally
leapt, when I heard that; this seemed to be such a list of
coincidences, that seemed to keep growing. But upon observing the
puppies, I noted that Angel was a little sassy pants. The other
female was more docile, she paid attention to us. Angel ran under
the dining room table and squatted. Then she was off to tackle a big
brother. Which she did! My mind turned from Angel to the other
female. We decided to take the quieter female."
| "As we sat across the room from each
other, the lady asked if we were related to the (Family Name) from
Northern Minnesota. We were stunned.... Yes, that is my husband's
grandfather! The lady announced her maiden name to us. She
remembered sitting next to my husband at the picnic table, in the
yard of his grandfather's farm, back in 1978! They were cousins!
What a sequence of coincidences! Certainly, we were getting a
Hovawart!" |
|
|
"We brought a little pink
collar for our Hovi Girl. They were still too young to leave their
sweet momma. So we decided in two weeks, we would be back. During
the following week, there was an older couple from several hundreds
of miles, that had stopped in to get a female puppy, it was a little
early, but since they traveled so far, it was decided to allow them
their puppy. They wanted to take a group picture of the little
family, so they gathered all the puppies, including the one they had
secluded from their choice, our little Hovi Girl. In the rush of
gathering the little ones for the picture and the little bladders
starting to let go....... The older lady gathered up little Hovi
Girl in her blanket, while her husband paid the set price. The
owners were busy cleaning up puppy poo and getting the little
rascals back into their play area. Two hours later, they realized
the mistake. They waited until the older couple had stopped for the
night, still on the road and was able to reach them. But they had
traveled many, many miles and would not be turning around. Their
little Hovi Girl and them, had bonded. She went on to Montana to
live her life on a big ranch. I know she is resting on their front
porch, watching over the livestock and her beloved family. Hovi Girl
did go, to a wonderful home."
"Our newly found cousin called me, when there was no other choice
and break the news to me. They tried their best to offer the older
couple a drive, half way for a puppy exchange. But they loved their
little girl and would not be doing that..... So I received my phone
call...... I was shocked, as you might have guessed. She explained
everything to me, but I was still devastated. My husband and I
talked. I explained to him, how my heart had literally leapt, upon
hearing the name of Angel, but my mind deciding otherwise. They told
me that Angel was their favorite puppy. She was the first to greet
them at the puppy door, she was the first to the water dish, when
they were learning to drink from a dish. They told me she was the
smartest of all the other puppies. I said, I know.... Angel is the
Alpha. She is the most challenging, too. But then a small still
voice said to my heart..... "but you asked for a challenge." I
believe at that moment, Angel noticed us, she noticed me. We began
to bond."
"That was four years ago, I believe, we were meant for each other.
We visit Angel's first family from time to time, she enjoys the
visits. She shares a sunny spot in the living room with Little Miss
Attitude. She has learned to lie very still, our
pet bunny will run
right over her (to the cat, the bunny loves Little Miss Attitude!)
Angel is the most devoted and loving dog I have ever had the
pleasure. Angel is highly intelligent. She is the dog that, if you
are lucky, you chance once in a lifetime. I believe she is a friend
from Heaven. One day, we will know the whole story.... I believe in
miracles..."
"Until then, if you pass by our yard, you will see Angel flag her
tail and trot along with you, with her nose in the air, on the other
side of the fence. If you happen to notice, my husband will be
throwing a football, and yes, Angel retrieves."
