JAZZ! |
Hairless cat = YIKES! |
Once we bought a house, My Man started to investigate hypo-allergic dog breeds. I didn't hold out much hope that it would work for him, because once when we were single and I was house-sitting for a friend, he came to visit. Within a half hour he had hives all over his face and arms, and he was wheezing badly. I knew that his allergies were very real and nothing to mess with.
But My Man wanted to make his little girl happy. He suggested a Bichon Frisee or a Poodle. My old college roommate has a Bichon, so I sent her one of my husband's t-shirts so that her dog could lie on it for several weeks. When we got it back, my husband wore it for several hours to see if it would bother him. Miraculously, it didn't seem to cause any issues!
So he scoped out PetFinders, and one day he found an adult Bichon Frisee that needed to be adopted. On that Saturday four years ago, my daughter and I drove to an animal shelter about 20 miles away to inquire about the Bichon, but I feared that he might already be taken by the time we got there. I remember praying on the way down that if it was God's will, we would love to have a dog but not at the expense of my husband's health.
Jazz was in a cage with lots of other dogs when we got there.
I remember him jumping on me, and I was a little concerned about that habit. My daughter, Jessica, though, was already smitten. Another thing that concerned me was that the shelter couldn't guarantee that Jazz was a purebred. I called my husband, and he said that we should go for it.
The rest is history. We took this little dog home. The first thing we did was give him a name, and we all decided we wanted a name with a New Orleans' connection. Biscuit? Saint? Beignet? Finally someone shouted, "Jazz!" Music to our ears!
Jazz Band in New Orleans' French Quarter |
And so it was. And it has turned out to be a very apt name for our lively, spirited and personable little furball.
Jazz around the time of his adoption in early 2008 |
I called the animal shelter and questioned why they didn't share this huge bit of information with us, and they claimed to have run out of the testing kits and didn't know. Yeah, right. They told us that we could bring him back (and they would probably put him down) but they wouldn't help us to pay for the expensive (and dangerous) treatment (we're talking $700 and 6 weeks of peace and quiet in a household with 2 kids who had never had a dog!). How could I tear Jazz away from my kids?! He was already a part of our family!
All ended up well, and our Jazz's presence has been priceless. He has added so much laughter and joy to our lives.
Jazz after playing with the kids in the snow |
He is part of our family. Our kids sometimes accuse us of loving the dog more than them! Ha ha!
My Man and Jazz--No sniffles, just smiles! |
Me and the Best Dog Ever |
Thanks for the unconditional love, Jazz! Back at ya, buddy!