We were crushed. Our puppy gave our old dog two playful years more than we ever expected, yet she was 16 years old and the day came when she died. We agreed to grieve before adopting another dog, yet our puppy Peanut had other plans. We had been a two dog family and he moped around our home for weeks. One day the kids asked to visit the humane society, the same place where we had adopted Peanut (Bronco) two years earlier. We said we were going to just look. The Love Train would be coming in a week or so and there would be greater selection, yet they took one look at Poppi, then Bianca, with her huge ears and irresistibly soft rabbit-like coat. and my daughter said, “She is the one!” No room for dissent. We played with her for two hours and visited three days in a row while she was cleared for release.

The kids took turns holding her on the car ride home. Poppi was shaking and threw up. Her paw had been caught in a trap of some kind and had a big pink scar where no hair grew. I wasn’t sure how Peanut would react when we came home with a puppy, with all of us smelling like her, but he immediately jumped off the moping couch to greet her by playing submissive to the small puppy, letting her smell him and chew on him playfully. He lit up inside again.

Now, my daughter says I am her favorite person, yet Poppi is her favorite being in the whole wide world. We are so overjoyed Poppi is in our lives. Poppi loves the dog park, snuggles with us, and play time with Peanut in our fenced yard. She is so smart, eager to please, and loves herding us all, the people and pup she loves, into one room so she can keep an eye on us, her family.

Bianca now Poppi (Popcorn)