A spunky new addition to the family

It really wasnít fair, the way Randi Vick hoodwinked me.

She had come to The Argus on Monday, October 11, beaming about a dog that one of her home health care clients needed to give away.

ìItís a miniature dachshund,î Randi said. That caught my ear. My wife, Cindy, and I had been talking just the day before about getting that very breed of dog. My sister Kathy has one that we like, named Willie, and some friends from Duluth who had just visited us have one too, named Peanuts. Miniature dachshunds seem to lend themselves to spunky names like Willie and Peanuts.

So I told Randi to find out more about the dog, how old she was, what she was like, that kind of thing. Randi said yes, sheíd do that on Friday, and let me know more.

I told Cindy about it that night. We agreed again that it wouldnít be a bad idea. We already have two dogs, but one, MacKenzie, is 11-1/2 years old, and is showing her age.

Then we forgot about our dachshund dream until Friday, when Randi pulled out her bag of tricks.

See, Randi didnít report back ON the dog, she reported back WITH the dog.

Her name was Zoey. She had long black hair, which surprised everyone at the office. Most dachshunds are brown with short hair.

Then Zoey pulled out her own bag of tricks. She rolled on her back, she jumped onto laps. She gave everyone a steady, friendly stare, and snuck in a lick or two.

She ran through the office on legs too short under a body too long. Her tail never stopped wagging. We could not help but smile.

ìSee why I took her?î Randi asked. It was obvious. This was a special little dog, one that nuzzled into the hearts of four fine newspaper women in about 30 seconds.

Of course, I was not about to melt that easily. It took me at least a minute.

My co-workers all wanted Zoey. Maybe that was one of Randiís ideas too. But Dawn has a dog, and one is all she can handle. Diana couldnít take another dog either. Robinís cat wouldnít not allow a canine in the house, even though Robin was so fond of Zoey that she started calling her Stinky Pants, which is the highest of compliments from Robin. Jane said dogs were not allowed inside the Palen farm house.

So I took Zoey home that night. First I introduced her to our two dogs. They were not as impressed as I was. I didnít expect much more though. Dog friendships take a while to develop, thatís the way it ought to be.

Zoey won Cindy over in record time when they met that night. Cindy was slightly surprised ñ bringing home a dog is not something I do every day, or even every decade. I think I scored some hard-earned husband points on that one.

Cindyís brother has a dog named Zoey, so we decided to rename her. She is now officially Rosie. That name seemed to jump out as a good one. It has lots of spunk, like Rosie the Riveter, and Rosie Deters, and Rosie Papenfuss.

I know our Rosie will be a good addition to the household. She followed me around as I did chores on Sunday, and found two dead mice and a dead bird in the garage. She proudly brought them to me. I managed to take them from her, but not after a good tug of war. You have to like a dog that doesnít give up her trophies.

No, it wasnít fair, the way Randi Vick hoodwinked me. But Iím glad she did, and so are Cindy and Rosie.

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Caledonia Argus
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507/724-3475

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