Chapter 1: Hello World!

According to my hu-mom, everyone has a story.
My story began December 16, 2005, when I was 1 of a litter of 9, born to Aspen, (an AKC Registered Yellow Lab), and Ruckus, (an AKC Registered Golden Retriever).

 

My dog mom and dad’s humans (Karen & Michael), planned on keeping 2 of us puppies, and adopting out the rest to friends.




Karen & Michael gave us names that described our character. There was BT (bent tail), Chubbs (self explanatory), Chaos, etc., and me, Rudy, short for Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
 
 

Karen & Michael had a constant flow of people to see, play with, love on, and hold us puppies – to make sure that we were well socialized.



My hu-mom (Deborah) and hu-man (David) would come visit – David liked to get down on our level and be surrounded by puppies. He was convinced that they “needed” a puppy.




Deborah was a little more subdued. Oh she loved and doted on us, but she wasn’t convinced that she/they were ready for the responsibility of a puppy.



You see, just six months earlier, David’s Father had gone away to heaven and his guard-dog Kip was left without a home.



David and Deborah adopted him, but with past experience with cats and chickens only, they were still just learning what it meant to be “dog” people.

So, what changed their mind? Well, initially their mind was made up for them. Deborah had waited so long to decide, that all of the puppies were spoken for.
 
Then one of those “life events” occured– you know the kind, one of those experiences that is painful and doesn’t make sense, but it is important for growth --

David’s sister Carole died on February 14^th, 2006. When Carole was a young girl, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She was operated on and told she would not live very long, and she would never have children. God had other plans, though, and Carole had one son and lived until lung cancer claimed her life at the age of 62. Carole lived her life with a huge scar on her neck, a constant reminder of the incredible miracle that was her life.

After Carole’s death, Deborah had a change of heart and felt that she was ready for the responsibility of a puppy, but not just any puppy – me!



You see, when I was just a “young girl”, I was diagnosed with a physical problem that without surgery, would have certainly cost me my life. I forgot the medical name for what I had, but there was an artery that wrapped around my esophagus and it prevented me from eating solid food. I had to have surgery to correct the situation and at 7 weeks of age, I was left with a huge scar on my chest and side that I too would carry as a constant reminder of the miracle of my life.



Fortunately, Karen and Michael loved David and Deborah so much that they gave me up so that I could go live with them. David and Deborah changed my name from Rudy to Zoe, meaning “life” in Greek.
And now you know how I got my name and how I came to live with David, Deborah and Kip.







So be encouraged, difficult and seemingly hopeless situations can result in GREAT blessing!