Guess The Mix ??

Spring is in the air and along with it threats of severe weather...much to our dismay. We are always grateful when we are spared any damage in our area and pray for those not so fortunate.

I'd like to take a little time to tell you about Penny....the HEART DOG of my husband of almost 36 years, Ron.

Penny came to us very much by accident ...or was it by Divine intervention ?? I suspect the latter.

It's late June 2004...Ron is still grieving the loss of his beloved Labrador, Bonnie.

(We'd helped Bonnie to the Bridge that January because the ravages of old age and arthritis made her incapable of walking more than a step or two before her legs would collapse underneath her. I, too, grieved Bonnie's passing....I had owned her mother, Deja, and Bonnie was whelped in our spare bedroom while Ron was serving in the Army in Germany. When he came home in late 2001, Bonnie, then aged 14 months fell madly in LOVE with Ron and once he retired from the Army and was home to stay, he and Bonnie were inseparable.)..

So....it's an early, warm morning and Ron was at his job on Ft Leonard Wood and was taking a break in between runs of transporting soldiers to various training locations. For some reason, he felt that Colyer Park was as good a place as any for that break.

As he was sitting in his truck in the early morning silence, he heard a car pull up to that same park...a window opened...and OUT literally flew two puppies...a small brown one and an even smaller furry puppy....and the car sped off.

Unfortunately, the early dawn haze did not enable Ron to get a license plate number on the car , so he decided to see if he could catch the puppies and at the very least take them to the shelter on the Fort and hopefully they'd find REAL homes.

The brown puppy was clearly the protector of the furry puppy and after several mad dahses, the puppies tired and Ron was able to catch them and put them into the cab of his truck. By the time he got back to the motor pool, the brown puppy was curled up in his jacket...sound asleep.

He called me at my job several times that morning and at last said " I like the little brown one "; he had no idea what breed or whatever they were....so I told him to bring them home and I'd take a look and see what he'd found.

When I got home...I came inside and two happy , waggy tail puppies came running up to me...the furry obne looked like a Shih Tzu type and I wasn't sure about the brown one...I just knew when she jumped on my leg ... and I saw Ron's beaming face...there was NO way I was going to say he could not keep her.

And, thus...Penny came into our lives and hearts and while she has her snippy spells, she is truly a joy and she makes Ron happy and with the love that those two have for each other...that was the most IMPORTANT thing, right ?? Ron believes that, in some way, Bonnie's "spirit" led him to that park on that particular day...it wasn't his norm to take a beak in that location...and who am I to argue ???

We figured she was about 4 or 5 months old when Ron found her; she was beginning to shed baby teeth and by my internet research that seemed about as good a guess as any...so we made Valentine's Day Penny's birthday...so now she is just past 8 years old and still the light of Ron's life.

A few weeks ago, a co-worker had one of those Mixed Breed DNA test kits given to her and she and her husband did the swabs on their dog and sent them off...and when they got the rtesults, it looked pretty much "spot on" with what they were told the dog was ( a Cocker mixed with some kind of terrier )...so I thought...

What the heck....we've always wanted to get some kind of clue as to what kind of mix Peny was...so I bought a similar kit...did the swabs and we should get the results back in 2 or 3 weeks; they are in the processing stage now.

I have some gut feelings...and with Penny's very Alpha attitude, I 'd almost think she's part alligator...LOL....

It's been a long time since I had done a Rescue Challenge and this seems like as good a time as any.....

Take a look at Penny's pictures and see if you can determine her mix.....she is approximately 40 lbs ( yes, a tad chubby ) and about 15"-16" at the shoulder

The winner will be the one who either gets it right or comes as close to guessing Penny's heritage as determined by the DNA test. If more than one person gets the right guess, a drawing will be held amongst all correct entries...if NO ONE gets it right, then a drawing will be held amongst ALL contestants.

The winner will have a $ 50.00 donation sent to their favorite Rescue or shelter and as a bonus will receive a 2.5 lb Variety Pack of delicious M & Zee's Pet Treats.

Please e-mail your guesses to: merrymutts@aol.com and include your name and where you are from ...city & state only... and your selected Rescue or shelter should you be the winner.