Chapter 1:
Arthur: More Puppy Love

One year later Nicole had graduated from university and had agreed to move to Merritt in order to manage her families’ A&W restaurant. Until that point, we had maintained our relationship at a distance through phone calls and as many visits as were feasible. I visited her there on a few occasions, but the strains of a long distance relationship soon became evident. Ultimately we agreed that I should move to Merritt, so that we could be together. It was the sensible choice because Nicole had a steady job and I was still a struggling teacher on call in Prince George.

We moved into a small duplex that was downtown, near the mills. It was not the best of neighborhoods, but the place that we moved into was clean, well kept up, and we could afford the rent (Nicole’s older brother Christopher owned the place). I applied at the local school board to get on the teacher on call list, but was not immediately given an opportunity for an interview. We managed to make ends meet because Nicole worked at the family restaurant as an assistant manager, and I worked as a cashier for a little while. I found the employment situation frustrating. Although I eventually found work at a mill in town, I was unhappy not to be working in my chosen field.

Between Nicole and I though, times were generally good. Our relationship was always a little stormy, but we enjoyed each other’s company. Throughout the first year, the one specter that hung over us was the fact that I began to think about returning home to Prince George because I was frustrated about my inability to get any work as a teacher on call. About half way through the school year I got hired on as a teacher on call, so it seemed that our future and place in Merritt was secure.

Once we started to feel more settled, we started talking about other things like where our relationship might be going. Marriage and family eventually came up. Nicole knew how much I loved dogs, and by this point she had warmed to the idea. We developed a sort of an implicit agreement at this point that a dog would be a good start to a family while I read book after book about dogs and puppies because it seemed that the acquisition of a new family member was becoming increasingly imminent. At this point we were both interested in puppies, but we were still in negotiation as to what sort of dog we each wanted. I wanted a big dog because I had grown up around big dogs. I was thinking something along the lines of an akita or a husky, she was thinking of something smaller like an american eskimo dog. There was no rush because now that we had agreed in principle, we had plenty of time to work out the details.
*****
It happened quite suddenly. One night during spring break when Nicole’s teenage younger brother, Sasha, and his cat, Simba, were visiting she came home from the restaurant with a newspaper in her hand, "I just found an ad for Labrador Retriever/ Golden Retriever cross puppies. If you are interested in looking at them, I am too.". The puppies were from a farm in Sunshine Valley near Merritt, and she told me that if I was interested in going to see the litter that she was too.

I was a little bit stunned for a second. Nicole had been coming around to the idea of a puppy, but I jumped on the opportunity and answered definitively. "Yes, let’s give her a call and go out to see the pups right away. What made up your mind so quickly?"

"I’m not sure. I just think that we should go and look, just a feeling. We don’t have to actually get one, unless we really like them," she replied.

I knew at that point that her mind was made up. People did not make appointments to see puppies without coming home with one. It’s one of the unwritten laws of the universe. That being said, I tried my best to respect her stance of indifference. "Well, if you really want to see them, I suppose that we might as well go to see them tonight."

Nicole called the woman who said that we might as well come out to see them right away because it was nearing dark. She lived on a farm in Sunshine Valley a short distance out of Merritt. Neither of us had ever been to that particular part of the valley, so we got thorough directions. They sounded fairly straight forward, so we left straight away.

It is sometimes tough to find addresses in Lower Nicola because it is full of farms with address plates that are invisible from the road, so getting there was a matter of the ladies’ confusing directions and instinct. The roads in that part of the valley were not particularly good, which was compounded by the fact that it was a pitch black night on a road that was shrouded by trees for the most part. Fortunately, Nicole’s parents had lent us their sport utility vehicle while Sascha was with us because Nicole’s little 1988 RX-7 was not big enough to comfortably drive the three of us around in.

Neither my instincts, nor Nicole’s, were great when it came to directions, but eventually we got to the house that we thought the puppies were at. As we drove up the long driveway a very large black dog, who looked to some sort of Labrador Retriever mix, jogged up beside our truck and followed us to our parking spot near the porch. Unfortunately the house had no visible number, so we waited to see if the house owner was going to come out at our approach. No one appeared for over a minute, so I figured that I would have to chance the dog’s mood and get out if I were to have a chance to see the puppies.

Getting out of the cab of the truck, I extended my wrist for the dog to sniff and hoped that the big dog was friendly. His tail started wagging instantly, and I was certain that things were o.k.. As soon as I started petting the dog, a voice from the porch boomed out, "Hello there."
I looked up and an elderly gentleman walked out toward me. "We called about the puppies earlier," I said hopefully.

"Sorry son, but I am not sure what you are talking about."

"Are you the people selling the labrador-golden retriever cross puppies?"

"No, I hear that the people up the road had a litter, you might want to try them."

I thanked the man and got back into the truck. I relayed the information to Nicole who had been a little more unsure about the big dog than I had, and we were quickly off again. After driving down dark country roads and up long driveways for a while, we were still unable to find a house with the correct number or information about where the lady with the puppies might actually live. It was getting darker, so I suggested that we might want to go home and try again the next day. As if by fate though, we decided to try one last driveway before giving up.

Arriving at the correct address this time, we saw an absolutely tiny Golden Retriever curled up on the porch. As we walked up to the door the little dog ran up wagging her tail and waited for a pet. After playing with the little dog for a couple of minutes, the owner of the house opened the front door and greeted us, inviting us inside to view the puppies. When asked if the little dog was the puppies’ mother, she said that she was indeed the mother, and that the father was a very large lab who was out wandering around the farm.

We went into the living room accompanied by lady and the little dog. When we got into the living room, Nicole and I sat down with the lady and talked to her while the puppies mother flopped down, so that several of the puppies ran over to get some supper. The puppies were the cutest babies that I had ever seen. They were small, black, fuzzy, and chubby all at the same time. I believe that there were seven in all, but it was very difficult to count because they were in constant motion wrestling, eating, and running in circles.

As I watched them play, I saw the two of them chase the runt of the litter away from supper and under a set of book shelves. He barked back at them, but they were not going to let him out. Having lost track of the conversation at this point, I walked over to the book shelf and shoed away the little bullies. Unsure of me, the baby stayed under the shelf and whimpered slightly.

Undaunted by a nip from his little puppy teeth, I fished him out. At that point, any chance of a rational decision was gone as soon as I looked into his dark little puppy eyes and smelled his bad little puppy breath. He was the cutest animal in the long history of animals. He was tiny, the smallest of the litter. When I lifted him, he was only slightly larger than my hand and had little ears that were so long that they could cover his eyes. His fur was relatively short and black as jet with just a hint of his mother’s gold in his cheeks. The cutest part was that his head was so fuzzy that he looked like he had a permanent case of bed head. I knew that there were many behavioral problems associated with the runt of the litter, but putting him back with the little bullies was unthinkable.

I stood up and walked over to the table where the discussion about the dogs was still taking place. Nicole quickly agreed on the puppy that I had picked out, so we paid the lady and took our new baby home. I rode in the back with the puppy, while Nicole and Sasha rode in the front. We talked along the way, but I can not remember much of what was said, although I do remember Sasha saying, "You’ve waited a long time for this– now we have to think of a name for him. How about Finnigan, like the dog off of Mr. Dressup?"

"That’s a great name, let’s think about it for a bit."

When we got home Nicole made a little box for the puppy to sleep in. It had a blanket and an alarm clock because we had heard that the noise made puppies comfortable by making them believe that it was the sound of their mother’s heart. Sascha and I had been camping out in the living room for the past few days, so I put the box beside my pillow, said goodnight to Sasch, and tried to get to sleep. It seemed that sleep was not in the puppies’ plans though because as soon as I started to drift off he threw all of his weight into the side of the box. The box spilled over, and he crawled over to nestle up in a little ball on my pillow.

I picked him up, snuggled him, and put him back in the box with a kiss on the nose. Assuring him that we would talk in the morning, I felt compelled to utter a sacred oath that would bind us forever, "I love you. You will have the best life– I promise. I will always be there for you, no matter what. "

Feeling that the words would properly assuage the dog and that I could now get to sleep, I turned over and closed my eyes. Thirty seconds later the box tumbled over again, and the puppy had nestled into the pillow beside my head. I knew that it would be the kiss of death to let the puppy win this struggle to assume the leadership of our pack, so I put him back into his box with the another hug and kiss. Thirty seconds later the box was over, and he was back. We repeated this process until I was half asleep, at which point the puppy claimed triumph and we both drifted off to sleep.

*****

The next morning was great fun. Arthur woke up and immediately began running around my head, licking my face, and barking at me. I rolled out of my sleeping bag, and headed to the kitchen. I immediately realized how woefully unprepared we had been to get the pup when I tried to find something to feed him. As I was searching, a smell wafted over to me from the other side of the kitchen. "Ken," Sascha called, "The puppy made a mess."

Walking over to the edge of the kitchen, I saw the mess. Right where the living room carpet met the linoleum floor. Why, oh why did the little dog not know that it was easier to get stains and smells off of linoleum than out of carpeting?

The little guy stood there wagging his tail, and wearing what appeared to be a smile for all intents and purposes. "Bad dog," I admonished him.

He continued to smile and wag his tail, but walked over and rubbed his head against my leg. Knowing that it was the wrong thing to do at this point in time; I reached down, picked the little guy up, and petted him. The puppy licked my face and barked happily. I hugged him tight, then set to cleaning the disgusting mess that he’d left me.

Shortly after I finished, Nicole woke up. She came out to the kitchen and petted our new baby. The pup was a tiny bundle of love and energy. He ran around in circles from me to Nicole to Sascha, getting pets from everyone who would give them. In the manner of most newborns, he understood exactly how cute he was, and knew exactly how much power that gave him.
We realized that we would need food for the little boy sooner rather than later, as his energy began to wane and playful barks turned to needy whines. Looking at the clock confirmed that it was; indeed, seven in the morning, so we headed out to the only place that seemed likely to have puppy food in stock– 7-11. I sat in the back of the vehicle holding my new baby while Sasch and Nicole went inside to get the dog food. They came out with a small bag of Kibbles and Bits– not specifically formulated for puppies, but it would give the little guy something to fill his tummy until we found something more suitable.

Returning home we took out some of the little green bowls that we ate out of and filled one with water and one with food. The puppy gulped his food quickly, running periodically to us to get pets and hugs between bites. When he had finished his breakfast, a mess of water and food crumbs was all over the floor. Nicole looked at the mess and said, "We really need some dog supplies– like a mat for the food.."

"Yup, and probably some appropriate food too," I agreed.

At that point in time, shopping for many Merrittonians meant a trip to Kamloops. I packed a little box with a blanket, carried our tiny new addition out to the Explorer, and sat in the passenger seat. Nicole got behind the wheel, and Sasch in the back seat– all eyes firmly fixed on the pup in rapt fascination, wondering what he might do next. To everyone’s disappointment, he immediately fell asleep. Even as the vehicle pulled out, the little guy did not stir.
Nicole asked quietly, "What do you think we should name him?"

"I’m not sure, do you have any ideas?" I asked.

Several suggestions were passed back and forth before Sasch interjected, "How about Finnigan, like off of Mr. Dressup?"

"I like that idea. Finnigan it is. Let’s think about it for a while and decide when we get home. Do we have a list of the things that we need?"

"No, I’ve never been shopping for a puppy before. What do you think we will need?"

"Well, probably some puppy food, a collar, a name tag, a leash, some toys, and probably the people at the store will know if we forget anything."

The puppy woke up when we got to the Logan Lake turn off and then proceeded to whine for the next ten minutes, until we got to a turn off. We trotted the little guy out and waited for him to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, he decided that it was more fun to wander around the pull out, bark, and sniff the plants. Eventually he did his puppy business, and then it was back in the vehicle and off to Kamloops.

Arriving in Kamloops, we headed straight for the local Petcetera. We had not visited Petcetera many times before because, well, we had never had a pet before. We walked in carrying our little sleeping bundle of joy, and he immediately began barking and squirming. Now, when puppies die, I can only assume that the place that they go is somewhere like this store. It is completely full of pet food and treats of every description.

Unfortunately, having no leash made putting the puppy down in a store full of puppy toys inadvisable. We walked through the store, me with the puppy wailing and thrashing; and Nicole and Sascha picking up the necessities. Amongst other things we got a bag of Nutro puppy food, a little red leash, a little red collar, and various puppy toys. As soon as we passed through the checkout, we put the little collar and leash on the puppy.

Walking him out on his little leash was the first of many challenges that day. The little guy back and forth in front of the three of us, and then ran in a circle around my legs, leaving me completely entangled. After spinning myself out of the leash, I picked the puppy back up and carried him back to the truck while he licked my face.

Following our trip to Petcetera, we thought it would be wise to stop off at Chapters and purchase a book or two on puppies. I sat outside on the Starbuck’s patio with our cute little puppy, while Nicole went inside to look around.

Sitting on the patio, I realized that there is something primal about newborn babies of any species. A new puppy is like a magnet, and people that you have never met before will walk right up and compliment you on your puppy. They will then get down on their knees, make faces, and speak in silly baby voices. I had never owned a Labrador Retriever before, so I wondered how he would react to the stimulation of so many people walking up and petting him. As it turned out, the little guy basked in the attention, clowning around and barking at the strangers as they showered him with loving attention.

She came out with several puppy books, including the Idiot’s Guide To Choosing, Training, and Raising a Puppy. I had never before purchased an Idiot’s Guide, and flipping through it, I found tons of useful information. An idiot’s guide indeed.

Our next stop was Costco because one of us remembered that we had noticed a do it yourself dog run there during our previous trip. We piled in for the short trip over to Costco. Getting out, we walked to the door with our new baby. Nicole had the card, so she went in to purchase the cage. As I stood by the door holding the little guy. He wagged his tail happily and kissed me as I petted him.

Every person who walked by commented on the puppy or petted his head and made baby faces at him. Soon Nicole returned with the dog run in a box. We wheeled it out to the Explorer and loaded it into the back. We got in, and turning to Nicole I said, "How about Finnigan for a name? It was Sascha's suggestion, and it seems to fit."

"I like that name too," she said, "Yes, let’s go with Finnigan. Is there anything else that we need?"

"No, I’m hungry though, how about you?"

"I don’t think that we can take him into any restaurants, but I’m hungry too. How about Mcdonalds?"

"That sounds pretty good, let’s go."

We hit the drive thru, and I got a two cheeseburger meal. I held Finn with one hand while eating my fries. The little guy squirmed and struggled to reach the food, but he was just not big enough to get to them. When he could not reach them, he whimpered a little with a little voice that could melt the heart of the coldest person. I made a decision that probably cost me hours of torment later, feeding him a small piece of my burger. I should have realized that lessons that are taught to a five pound puppy are remembered by a seventy pound dog, but he was so cute in the moment. Mollified, the puppy was content with snuggling and licking me on the way home.