Happy Endings – Leroy (FKA – Madison) 08-486
Maren always wanted a puppy. I hadn’t had a puppy of my own since Sally back in 1999. The time just seemed right. So we kept an eye on the RAGOM web site and fell in love with Misty’s puppies. One by one they got themselves adopted so I encouraged Maren to go meet Madison at a PetSmart event. She thought he was awfully cute and that his mom was the perfect size. “I don’t want a 90 pound dog! They’re too big!” Darn! I asked her if she wanted to adopt him. Three dogs seemed like a lot of work, and a lot of hair. We arranged a visit to Madison’s foster home anyway. The visit went well, Madison was a doll. After seeing him, we drove to my parent’s home to visit. On the way we discussed the whole puppy situation. Maren was interested, but did not seem thrilled with the thought of a puppy. “He’s cute, but I don’t know.” Maybe the time wasn’t right. I had really hoped that she would be head over heels in love with the puppy like a kid on Christmas morning, but she wasn’t. Oh well. Maybe some other time, maybe some other puppy. No puppy for us…
Driving home later that night it hit me. So what if she isn’t thrilled. So what if a puppy is a lot of work and a lot of commitment. I’m tired of making decisions based solely on logic, reason and safe thinking. I want a puppy! Let’s get him!

We picked Madison up on a Friday night. We introduced him to Sally and Zoey (07-572) and played for about 2 hours. Then he disappeared. Uh-oh. A puppy loose in the house is probably pooping on something important. What did we get ourselves into?! After a quick search, we found Madison, now named Leroy, sitting at the back door waiting for us to let him out. Wow! RAGOM has the BEST foster families! We opened the door, he went out, did his business and came right back in. (He’s had only 5 accidents in the house ever – 4 were play related and 1 was a total mystery…)

Leroy has grown into a wonderful young man, albeit way too quickly for me! He loves to wrestle with other dogs and has yet to meet a dog that he doesn’t like. He worships Zoey, but she is just too old to play with him. Everyday he tries to get Sally to play; she’s kind of snotty to other dogs, but is slowly warming up to our little guy. He is gentle with every kid he meets. Leroy recently graduated from the third level of obedience training at PetSmart. He will be taking his CGC test soon – he is going to fail because he can’t meet another dog on leash without getting too excited to play. He is also one of RAGOM’s canine ambassadors. He goes on school visits with Jane Nygaard and our Zoey. The kids all say he is adorable.
We just love our little boy. Maren, who was not head over heels at the start, is now jealous of me every time I pick him up from daycare. “I miss my little boy at work!” she says. “I just love him so much!” I should have known she would come around.
Thanks, RAGOM!
PS – I proposed to Maren the day after we got Leroy. She said yes!
