Adventures in Chicago with our Bernedoodle Puppies
It was a big day! We had an appointment to meet Nermal’s owner who was flying in from California to meet us at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Earlier in the week, we received a phone call from a couple interested in our remaining puppies. This couple lives in Chicago, so I thought of bringing Pookie, Squeak, and Nadine up with us so they could meet them and pick one out. It’s important to us that our customers have ample opportunity to pick out their puppy before they commit to adoption because it’s such a big decision.
So, we packed up four puppies, our five kids, lots of snacks, and some good movies for 8 hours total in the car. Brian wasn’t very pleased about taking so many puppies, but I was confident it would be ok. At our first rest stop, I began to understand his hesitancy. Taking four puppies out to go potty that have never walked on a leash is quite the affair! Thankfully, we had a lot of help from Jordan, Riley, and Blair. Walter tried to help, but we couldn’t completely trust him with a leash as he is only two.
We stopped to meet Christine and Rob at 1:00 in the heart of Chicago. Their building used to be an old warehouse and it had all the industrial features you’d expect. They invited us up to their home and the puppies immediately got to work exploring. With noses to the ground, they ventured from the kitchen to the living room without any fear or shyness.
Once the place was thoroughly smelled, they turned their attention to Christine and getting pets and snuggles. Nadine was most content to climb on Christine’s lap and lean into her arms. Pookie liked the attention, too, but she flitted from one person to the other. Squeak, being true to her toy obsession, first found a sandal from their shoe basket and brought it to us, then she crawled under the couch and found a gardening glove, and later crawled under the couch again to retrieve another shoe! I couldn’t stop laughing at her! She truly has a toy addiction!
We ended the meeting with a short walk down the street for the puppies to stretch their legs. We didn’t get far due to their inability to walk in a straight line on the leash, which was fine, because we had to leave to meet Sarah at the Airport. We said our goodbyes to Christine and Rob and ventured through the city to O’hare.
When we meet a customer at an Airport, I always arrange to meet them at the baggage claim of their terminal. Sometimes, it’s easier to connect than others, but this time, I spotted Sarah easily as she approached with an empty puppy carrier. As soon as Sarah picked Nermal up, Nermal covered her face in kisses and her tail wagged as quickly as it could! We found a place to sit and go over the puppy pack and important documents. Riley had come to the Airport with me and held Nermal as we adults chatted. Meanwhile, another little girl came over to pet Nermal. Nermal was perfectly well-behaved sitting on the bench while the girls pet her.
Sarah informed me that her sons didn’t know that they were getting a puppy. She said she caught one of her sons watching dog videos on his own and was sure he would be so excited to meet Nermal. I always love it when parents get a puppy for their kids, especially when it’s a surprise. We talked about how good it is for a kid to grow up with a dog and I almost got emotional thinking about the impact Nermal would have on these boy’s lives! This is one of the best parts of my job!
While I meet customers in the Airport, Brian usually parks at the cell phone lot. To help save time, he decided to come pick me up before I texted him. I could see him pull up through the window and ask Sarah if she had any final questions. As I’m answering her questions, I could see an Airport traffic control employee approach Brian’s van. He called me and I declined the call, knowing I’d be out in a minute. He pulled the van forward and parked farther down. I began to wrap things up with Sarah and the traffic controller marched over to Brian’s van again. I apologized to Sarah for leaving in a hurry, but I was pretty sure our time was up if we were going to catch Brian before the lady chased him away. I held Riley’s hand and we ran out the door, crossed two crosswalks, and jumped in the van as the lady scolded Brian for parking where he shouldn’t.
That encounter didn’t help Brian’s stress level as we exited the busy airport only to find ourselves stuck in Chicago’s mid-day traffic. It was truly horrible traffic getting home. We hoped to get home in time for Family Night at church, but what should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive ended up being over 3 hours! Brian usually loves road trips, but when we got home he felt physically sore and exhausted from the stressful driving!
One good thing that happened on our way home was that we received a text from Rob and Christine: they chose Nadine! I think Nadine had also chosen them.
Now that Nadine has a home, we just have Pookie and Squeak left! Is anyone interested in a phantom Bernedoodle that’s great in the car? Inquire about one of the girls by clicking the button below:
Dog breeding is full of ups and downs. We were still on a high from Nadine finding a home when we arrived home to find tragedy. Mae had squished one of her puppies. It was the little phantom girl, Autumn. I wondered if we were home if it wouldn’t have happened, but really, it’s almost impossible to prevent these things without 24/7 monitoring (which we just can’t do). So, for the second time in Mae’s life, a litter of six is down to a litter of four and I’m feeling less of a fan of this dog than I did a few days ago.
But, that’s how it is. We have big wins and big losses and just have to trust that God knows best.
