This is Penny.
Penny is a full-blooded Chinese Shar-Pei and is an important part of my life and our family.
Penny deservedly gets her own corner of this website, because she’s such a good pup-pup.
Penny has her own story, a bit of a unique ‘origin’ as it were, befitting of my life, and all involved.
At the core of it, I have Penny, correction: we have Penny because I fell in love with her sister from a different litter. (How exactly does that work for dogs?)
So, short version: the girl I was associated with for the bulk of 4 years, prior to dating my wife (trust me, saying ‘associate with’ isn’t a shot at the girl in question, it’s really the best way to define the “relationship” as it was. Calling her my girlfriend or to say we were dating would cause too many inaccurate assumptions) bought her children a new puppy for Christmas one year. In fact, I was the one that drove that 5-hour round trip to pick the pup up. Her name was Lily, and I was in love by the time I got back to town on that first day.
I was around this dog for a few years and adored her. When I finally wised up and broke off any association with that regimen, she was one of the primary things that I missed and made it so hard for me to let go and walk away from that situation.
Fortunately, a few months prior to the breakup, ‘the former’ was able to purchase Lily’s parents from the previous owner, and as luck would have it, the mother was pregnant with another litter. Literally the second to last time I was at this person’s house, the litter was born. It was a cold December night where fear of the puppies freezing to death was real. Penny was actually the runt and the one that was nearly lost if not wrapped up and rubbed on to keep warm/warm-up that first night.
A week after that, I finally parted ways, but as I found myself with an abundance of free time, I also found myself wanting a puppy. Like I admit, I had fallen in love with Lily, and I had fallen in love with the Shar-Pei breed. So about a month after the breakup, I reach out to ‘the former’ and inquired about getting a puppy. Now, I could have probably argued I should get a puppy free, Lord knows she owed me, but this puppy I wanted to be mine outright. No debate, no questions. I had already thought it through before ever contacting her, and so I paid, my ex, full price, for a puppy that I helped prepare for and helped save the night she was born. And while I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes at this, understandably so, this was the dog I wanted. This was the dog I needed. She’s been my companion since. She’s been the constant when it was just her and I. She’s my girl, and she’s been worth it ten times over.
Some of you reading this, while it’s meant to be a little funny because of just how stupid the situation was, will be bothered by the fact I paid for a puppy when I could have easily gone to the pound and rescued a dog. Understand: I don’t disagree. If we ever have another dog, we’ll most likely rescue. However, this situation was more unique. I was freshly single, living alone, and struggling some with having an empty house when my kids weren’t with me. That’s why I say Penny is the dog I needed. This is something my wife has said to me numerous times as she’s seen me get emotional over this goofy pup numerous times, for really no reason at all. Penny was who and what I needed to help me heal after the hellish 4-5 previous years I had fought through. I had my heart and mindset on a particular pup, and nothing was going to get between me and having my dog.
She’s the pup I wanted. She’s the pup I adore, and she’s a cornerstone of our family, and a corner of this site too.
She is Princess Penny, Daughter of Sven, Mother of Drool, First of Her Name.