The Dog Blog: Let's Meet Joe

The kitchen is quiet, except for the sounds of someone loving on a doggy. “You are so cute,” Leisel says. “So cute, puppy,” she’s talking to Pinder. I find them by the couch, Leisel says, “how do you ask a yes or no question?”

            “I’ll teach you. Do you feel hungry?”

            “Yes.”

            “See? Like that.”

Studiously Leisel nods, she’s got it. 

            “I have another question.” She’s looking at Pinder, “Because of Covid, people will lose their sense of smell or taste. Can dogs lose sense of smell or taste?”

            “That’s a terrific question…” Macye is reminded that since school started, some of the teams and middle schoolers were gathering around Halloween, and Covid cases are on the rise. Leisel had to quarantine and take two Covid tests from different exposures at her gymnastics center and school. Neither were positive. 

Should we Covid test Pinder before we breed her? A yes or no, random thought that occurs to Macye but it passes like a cloud through the moon.

            “Well let’s check your taste buds, how about some cinnamon toast?”

Leisel nods, and Pinder looks interested too.

Macye decides to call Glen. He was Pinder’s trainer for steadiness and learning how to properly retrieve. 

            “Pinder is ready for her next heat cycle. Now another mission, possibly the ultimate one, assuming Pinder is not a carrier of EIC, and we can move ahead, who is the right choice for the stud dog?”

Glen’s voice is strong and authoritative; he’s a dog trainer. “My black labrador is Blue. If you picked Blue, the pups would all be black since he’s not ‘yellow-factored.’ Since Pinder is a yellow lab...you probably desire a mixed litter. So, there’s Blue’s brother Joe. He’s a black lab too, lives in Jackson Hole and has a hunting test title from the American Kennel Club. He’s a Master Hunter. Yeah he’s a heck of a dog. You should call Matt about him.”

The first time Macye saw a picture of Joe is December 8th. This black lab looks proud.

When he’s sitting, he’s solid and alert. His black nose is shiny. His coat is like midnight, two coal and radiant eyes, focused and trained ahead. His ears are also at the ready, flipped out. Matt sends a few more photos, but Macye goes back to that first photo and stares at Joe.

             “Going to be doing some training at my house, today. Starting at 12:30, if you’d like to stop by.” It is the morning of the 16th of January. Macye sighs. Her day is bananas: skiing and gymnastics and client’s over for dinner. “Wish I could. We have a busy day. I’ll reach out early this coming week.”

It is set they will meet but then a string of work challenges blows this up. It isn’t until the last Tuesday in January when it works out, however there’s a silver lining. Macye and Alex will be able to go together to meet Joe.  

And the morning starts off as one of those winter days, like, it's deja vu. A January day on repeat. Cold, white and wet. And Christmas is so far in the past the memories could belong to someone else. The snow’s soft so you want to think you are headed into a warmer day. Macye has butterflies driving south across the Snake River Bridge. Not often one goes to meet the mate for her labrador. What would Joe be like?

As Alex drives his truck, she plays with the radio but the songs just weren’t right for her mood. She touches the dial and the silence fills the cab. “So when you took Pins duck hunting, what was the best part?”

            Thoughtfully, he says, “Well there was this situation when the guide’s dog couldn’t find the duck and Pinder made the retrieve. I was proud.”

            “See Pinder’s great in the field. I knew it.” Macye wished Pinder was with them. Meeting Matt seems intimidating; Joe held a title for his skills in actual field trials. Joe said he didn’t want a puppy, but Macye knew that didn’t matter: Matt thought very highly of his black labrador retriever.

            “Here we go,” she says nervously while opening the door. Her boots aren’t warm enough, and she shivers. The clouds of the sky let out a yellow glare. She dons her sunglasses as she watches Matt amble up to the truck. 

When he takes them into his kennel in the bay of his large shop, she sees three labs, and there is Joe. It’s why she stared at the picture. She knows his shape, but above all, witnesses in person, Joe’s inquisitive, excitable, and gentle expressions in his eyes.