It is with great trepidation…

I introduce to you… Renni.

Trepidation only because the wounds of losing Tucker are still raw; I miss him every day. Mike admitted to “stepping over” him still at night, and I swear I hear his tail thump once or twice a day in this big empty house. But in reality, it’s in my empty heart.

We are dog people, plain and simple. We usually have two of them. We were in fact playing with the idea of finally filling Ziggy’s void when Tucker so quickly turned downhill. Renni is not a replacement; I just told her a moment ago in fact that she needs to “Tucker up” i.e. “earn her stripes”.

I have no doubt she will. Already having overcome the odds of landing in a shelter, Renni was most likely dumped in the country when her family could either no longer afford her or perhaps she had outgrown that “cute as can be” puppy stage which abruptly ends around 4 months. Then they enter the lanky tween-age years and their cuteness no longer over compensates for their naughtiness.

Enter Wren.

Wren is the great lady who found the scared pup on her front porch one morning a couple of weeks ago. Trembling but in otherwise good shape, Wren did all she could to find the owners, posting flyers, calling neighbors and contacting the local vet (She did not know about KC PetConnect but does now!). She and her equally awesome husband Jim have 6 small dogs of their own and this little sweetie could not have chosen a better home to try and invade. They would have kept her too if they could; it seems the little guys were not fond of this stranger who did not look a thing like their pack. Renni tried and tried to befriend them Wren told us, but all she got for it was a cut under her eye “through” a fence! If that’s not a “go back to where you came from” statement, I don’t know what is!

So what is a long story can be summed up in one word… fate. The kids and I took off on a 3 hour jaunt last night to “see if she’s the one”. Jim and Wren live on a parcel of land just shy of 5 acres and we parked at the very end of a long gravel drive. I had warned the kids on the way up that the dog is timid so not to expect her to come running to us begging for a good home; she thinks she’s already got one!

But lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened. She came trotting toward us, fluffy ears flopping in the breeze. The three of us dropped to our knees and she bowled us over with lovin and tail-waggin. I knew right then… game over.

Wren and Jim could not have been nicer people, the kids want to adopt them as yet another set of grandparents. When I asked Wren how she felt about us naming the dog she saved after her… tears welled up in her eyes and I knew this dog would forever be known as “Renni”, after the woman who “really” rescued her.

We met the rest of their crew, swapped some stories and a few more tears. They lost a dog this past Fourth of July when a careless driver hit him on the country road outside their home. Renni must have sought out their hearts to heal but when it was clear Jim and Wren have plenty of canine love to go around, “fate” brought her to us.

Just like Tucker at first was no Ziggy, who was no Nubi, who was no Louie… the cycle of life continues. And one day soon, Renni will be Top Dog.