Until today, I’ve had 2 dogs. Both were Kerry Blue Terriers. Today, which is also the 1 year anniversary of my back surgery the count increased to 3. He doesn’t have a name yet, but he is pretty awesome!

Free time is limited now, so I will fill in the details and add pictures over time.

Background

Kerry Blue Terriers are an interesting breed. They are not easy as they are Terriers with the stock stubbornness, but they are loyal, family friendly, hearty and they don’t shed. I come from a long genetic line of allergies, so the Kerry is great for me.

First Kerry Blue Terrier – Bogey

When I was a boy growing up in Florida, I asked for a puppy every year; likely many times per yer. One Christmas when I was about 11 or 12, there was a dog crate with a little black stuffed animal in it. I thought it was a joke at first. Bringing a puppy home on Christmas isn’t wise and he wasn’t old enough yet. This was in the age before digital cameras, so I don’t have as many pictures. He stayed in Florida as I went off to school, and stayed my best buddy for a long time including some great summer breaks traveling together.

Second Kerry Blue Terrier – Maverick

Maverick fit into the classic, engaged, buy a house, get married and get a puppy time line. A wonderful family dog who helped take care of our girls and became my next best friend. Unfortunately, cancer took him early from us at just over 10 years of age. We initially found Maverick from a breeder in LA because an internet search turned up a litter with a similar birthday to Bogey.

Finding the New Puppy

It took a while to get ready for a new puppy after Maverick. There was an emotional recovery, and I hurt my back. My wife said she was searching for a litter and as I adjusted to the idea I did a search too. My wife said she couldn’t find the previous breeder, so I thought maybe she had retired or moved away.

Well, one internet search later I both found her and that she had a litter. A phone call and some tears later, I was mailing in a deposit for him. This puppy comes from the same blood line as Maverick. I don’t know if they become cousins or nephew/uncle and it really doesn’t matter. These dogs are hard to find and we found one.

He was born February 24th, 2014.

I got some early puppy pictures, but the girls never realized we were getting the puppy. They thought it was just a coincidence that I had pictures of a Kerry Blue puppy related to our old dog.

Getting the Puppy

The hard part was keeping the secret. My wife opened some boxes from Amazon and saw puppy stuff; she figured it out, but I kept the “date” a secret. The kids have been constantly asking for a dog for about a year, so the want was there, but they had no idea.

Pickup Day

I arranged to not have any face to face meetings Thursday and was able to do all of my work via phone. So I did the round trip drive to LA under the guise that I was picking up my new co-worker… well, one day he may be. Timing was tight to pick up, see my in-laws with the new dog and make it back before school got out. I got home with 10 minutes to spare. Google Map’s travel estimate was very accurate, but that still made me nervous.

The Surprise

I pulled in with one very car sick puppy. His first time away from his mom, fist time in a car and first time seeing a male. Already an intense day.

Just as I was walking out of the garage with him, my wife opened the back door. She wasn’t expecting, me and as she was asking my why I was home she saw him. She was so excited she almost forgot to go get the kids.

This was the fastest I’ve ever seen the kids get home. Normally they stay and play a bit. I was waiting on the back deck with him. He was scared and shy. They came in and saw me. I got almost the opposite reaction of what I was expecting.

I expected a gasp, or a scream.

Instead it was like you could hear their breath just disappear. “Who’s is that?” “Can we buy him?” “Do we get to keep him?” They were so genuinely excited it was great to see.

First Night

I’m not going to get into details here. I think it was a normal first night. He was scared and felt alone. He also wiggled his way into a fall that hurt his paw. He did fall asleep pretty quickly. He woke up and cried a few times in the night and we went out for some successful potty trips.