Before I started dating Paul, I had never even heard of a Bouvier. His parents’ 9 month-old Bouvier rescue named Calvin reminded me of some sort of Jim Henson puppet. And one that enjoyed hopping around and eating flip flops at that. Coming from a Lab household, I had a hard time accepting that this crazy fluffball was an actual dog!
About a year after Paul and I got married, I finally acquiesced to his pleas for a dog. Although I was hesitant to bring another Calvin (who, to his credit, has settled down a great deal in the past four years) into my life, Bouviers were the only dogs that seemed to fit all of our criteria: big, non-shedding, hypoallergenic, easy to train, etc. Some of our friends and family thought we were crazy to get a dog, and we heard more than once, “Don’t get a puppy! Just have a baby. They’re way easier.” Boy am I glad we did not listen to them!
Although we briefly considered a rescue like Calvin, we ultimately admitted that we really weren’t ready to take on a dog with “baggage,” and figured that for our first dog, we should probably start with a blank canvas. I researched a few different breeders in the area, but as soon as I stumbled upon the Mohr Bouviers website, I knew they were different. I spent an hour reading every single article (including their forthright and honest
“Raising a Litter- Our Philosophy”), checking every single update, and gushing over every single picture in the
picture galleries. I sent an
email just to express my interest, but certainly did not expect to receive a phone call from Linda just a few days later!
Linda told us that we’d be put on a waiting list, but that they’d likely be having another litter in the Fall and could always check back then. As a teacher, I knew the summer would be the best time for us to bring home a new puppy, but I trusted that things would work out the way they were supposed to. Sure enough, we worked our way up the waiting list, and when I finally arrived at my first
Puppy Play Date to meet the new litter, Linda informed me that we would not only be getting a puppy, but a little boy at that (which made Paul very happy!).
I am continually amazed at Linda and Karl’s ability to analyze the personalities of both puppies and humans. They knew that sensitive “Chandler” would be the perfect fit for our child-free (for now) household. They knew that he just needed an opportunity to come out of his shell, and that for whatever reason, Paul and I would be the ones to give him that opportunity. It seems silly to me now that I actually cried on the way home from one of our visits because I didn’t think that the newly re-named Grady liked me. If only I had known then that I would have to step over him at least eight times every time I cooked dinner because he is always at my feet!
I cannot even begin to express what a blessing Grady has been to our lives. His personality has truly blossomed into one that is incredibly outgoing and playful, while still maintaining his sweet and sensitive nature. When I open his crate door at 5:15 in the morning, the first thing he wants to do is crawl right into my lap to cuddle (and he no longer fits as well as he did a few months ago!). Sometimes it is a downright struggle to get him out the door for his walk! Leaving him every morning still breaks my heart, but pulling in the driveway and seeing his sweet little head resting on the windowsill puts it back together again. No matter how stressful my day was, his cheerful exuberance never ceases to lift my spirits.
I could probably fill a book with funny Grady stories, from the time he built himself a little “fort” out of fallen branches in the front yard, to the time he got into my knitting bag and redecorated the living room with yarn. He also loves to jump in the car and explore new places! Just this morning I took him to a local arboretum where he took off running and leaping over logs and streams. At one point he got running so fast that his little legs wiped out from under him and he barrel-rolled right into some branches. Before I could even ask, “Are you ok?” he stood up, covered in leaves, with a huge smile on his face, almost as if to say, “That was AWESOME!”
Needless to say, we could not even imagine our lives without Grady. Thanks to Karl and Linda and all of their encouragement and support, our little family is complete (for now!). We look forward to watching him grow along with our family and becoming the stately gentleman we know he will be. For now, we are just enjoying every entertaining moment of puppyhood.
