On Wednesday I was telling Abe how frustrated I was in the dog search. Because of Covid, no reputable breeders have any puppies for sale. Everyone is completely sold out. I even checked out Siberian cats and couldn’t find one for sale for the life of me, and I also heard that rabbits are sold out. For all I know pet rodents are all also completely sold out (not that I would ever in a million years want one of those).
He told me to jump on KSL and look at puppies there. So I did. And I was literally texting a woman about a Maltipoo puppy when I took a minute to deep breathe and really visualize what kind of dog and energy I want in my home. What I really wanted was a Bernedoodle–specifically one with brown eyebrows!–but every good breeder was completely (as I said before) sold out, and the breeder I’d paid a deposit to was booked out for six months to a year.
Anyway, I said my first sincere prayer in a while that I would find a dog that would enrich our family in the best possible way. What should I see next but a brand new ad (within the last three hours) for a Bernedoodle puppy that needed a home this weekend because the original purchasers had backed out last minute. He had brown eyebrows. I was kind of shocked. But, knowing how rare this puppy was, I immediately texted the breeder and within minutes had positioned our family as number one on the buyer list with an appointment to see him at 7am in the morning Thursday.
Honestly the whole experience made me reconsider resigning from the Church. I felt grateful that the Church helped me feel like I could access God through prayer and discern spiritual experiences that continue to serve me. Although I now get really confused about prayer when I think of all the much-more-important-than-mine prayers that don’t get answered, I still am grateful for my good experiences with it. At the same time I am still upset about the high-level fraud and white supremacy, so I don’t know. I might still send in my letter. Who knows.
Anyways Lydia and I hardly slept at all Wednesday night–we were so excited! And then we got everyone up at 6am, loaded in the car by 6:35 and were in Sandy at the breeder’s very beautiful home by 7:10.
The breeder was the nicest person. Her home was gorgeous, her dogs were so well cared for, and Basil had us all head-over-heels within minutes. He was so calm, quiet, and cute! I felt reassured that we were getting a really great dog. His parents are both Rocky Road Doodles, which if you are in the hunt for Bernedoodles, is a known top-of-the-line breeder. I actually called them early in my own search but they were going to charge me $6,000-$8,000 for a dog, and for a dog Basil’s size I would have paid $8,000! So since I got the dog one breeder removed, it felt like the sale of the century for an absolutely incredible dog.
After buying Basil, we went home and got the house all ready for him. The girls and I bought everything we needed to bring home a puppy at Petco, and the girls were almost out of their minds with excitement. Finally, we were completely ready and drove back to Sandy to pick him up.
He was so scared on the ride home and spent the ride and the rest of the day shaking like a leaf, but by night time he already loved his crate and went right to bed in it. His 2am potty break was a snap, thanks to the breeder’s hard work, and it was so easy to put him right back to bed afterward.
He is a total dream puppy and we are all beside ourselves loving him. We love you, Basil!
Also, Abe here, for a quick note. I was selected as a top people manager at Qualtrics based on survey feedback from my team and I was invited to present my management philosophy to the entire company at an all-hands meeting. I recorded my little presentation. It was fun.