Obedience School

We adopted our daughter, Catie, from China on January 13, 2003 – that’s her "Gotcha Day," the day we actually got her. Her birthday is October 23, 2001. 

She is an amazing kid. She was found outside a television station in a cardboard box wrapped in a blue jacket with her umbilical cord still attached. We believe she made it out in the world by herself for up to three days with no food or water without sustaining any brain damage. She is our miracle.

If you have been reading my column you will know that this year has been one of struggles and difficulties as to her acceptance and coming to grips with her adoption.

Well, I found a neat solution.

After several years of bothering my husband for a dog, he agreed and we "adopted" a collie (yes, gasp! full size) on June 9.

My daughter has also been begging (no pun intended) for a puppy. As she walked out with the puppy on the leash she asked, "Doesn’t our puppy have a 'Gotcha Day' and that would be today, right?"

I smiled, from the mouths of babes. What a great connection she made.

We adopted our puppy from a kennel located in Millville, N.J. The woman, Laura Van Embden, has been raising collies for more than 50 years and she is amazing.

I met her in Bucks County at an eye specialist for the puppies. She was having their eyes checked and offered to meet her there to select a puppy. We had already been to Millville to see all of her dogs and recent litters.

Later on, I spoke to Mrs. Vanebden again by phone and told her about my daughter’s revelation. She suggested that my daughter be the one to do the training in obedience school. I thought it was a good idea, but I asked her to elaborate since this is a woman wise beyond her years. 

She said that training a puppy not only impacts the trainee but also to the trainer. It promotes persistence in the trainer, teaches them to know when to reward good behavior, how to quit when you are ahead, promotes a healthy respect for a job well done and increases self esteem, overall.

After pondering these concepts, I believed that this opportunity would be just the ticket for my daughter to come to grips with the concept of adoption. 

Later, my daughter added an amazing revelation. She said that it is so neat that we actually selected our puppy and that we need to love her no matter what. And believe me, when the puppy’s middle name should be "piddle," it is great to keep this in mind.

Kids and dogs clearly are inseparable at times and we need to keep the unconditional love concept at the front of our minds. Another idea that both of my children are getting now is that rules are there to keep you safe and not to cut down on the fun in life. I think we, as adults, need to keep this in mind as well.

Wrap your conscience around that and remember that our creator thinks the same way!

By the way, we named our puppy "Falcon" for all of our Pennsbury and BGSU fans out there -- Frieda "Piddle" Falcon lives with us!