My husband thought it was a ridiculous idea! Aren’t there perfectly good puppies here? I thought why not get a puppy from Pennsylvania? It wasn’t my fault that the rescue that had the one I wanted was there. And she would be the perfect mix that I couldn’t pass up. After convincing my husband, one sunny Saturday, 3 months ago, I flew to PA to bring home a 3 month old, 8lb, black Daschund/Beagle mix. This will be a piece of cake I thought! Get the puppy, put her in the carrier, stick her under my seat and home we will go. Well, that was my first mistake. Taking a puppy on the plane that has never met you without bringing sedatives was a bad idea.
No matter what, this little girl did not want to get shoved in a bag and did her best to wrestle out of it every time I almost got it closed. When I finally did get her in there, my face sweaty from the struggle and flush with embarrassment, she started screaming. Not just a normal whimper or bark but a noise I never imagined could come out of a dog. Because there were no assigned seats and I was the last one on the plane, I felt like Forrest Gump boarding the school bus and every person I passed that had an empty seat next to them gave me the curt eye as if to say, ‘taken.’ Finally, at the back of the plane a woman with a 3 year old offered me a seat.
Cali continued to scream and screech for a good 20 minutes that felt like 4 hours with all the dirty looks I was getting. I didn’t realize though that all 8 pounds of her only had so much energy and after the 20 minutes of agony, she fell asleep. Dead asleep. Luckily, she didn’t wake up until we landed an hour later. The rest goes on with the fairy tale ending I had hoped for, sort of. She gets along with my 4 year old Pit mix, Milo. She is a unique, funny (she climbs trees), and loving (she sleeps under the covers) puppy although not quite potty trained and still needs work on the leash during walks. We are glad I took that trip even though the timing wasn’t perfect, and are happy she is part of our family.
She sounds like an adorable puppy and what an experience getting her! We rescued a dog too and have had him in the family for 11 years now. Rescue dogs really make the best pets.
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