Harley joins our lives

Harley entered our lives in November, 2007. We weren't really looking to get a puppy. In fact, Curtis (my husband) said he didn't want a puppy at all. Andrew (my younger son), Tanya (Andrew's girlfriend), and I went to look for puppies on a Saturday afternoon in early November, in nearby Castro Valley.

The puppies just weren't engaging enough! One climbed in Tanya's purse and stayed there. Andrew and I couldn't get them to pay attention to us. So --we didn't buy. A very disappointed Andrew and Tanya got back in the car.

Later that afternoon, Andrew saw another ad in the paper for german shepherd puppies. We called, found out puppies were still available and headed north to Bay Point. We picked up Andrew's best friend, Scott, to go with us.

Now, I knew we couldn't actually buy a puppy that day, because I had to go to a party that night in my honor. I had just been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, and members of the Plasma Theory Group were gathering at a colleague's house for dinner. So -- this was just a look-see, right?

We pulled up to a house in a rather scary neighborhood. Andrew and Scott said, "Don't worry -- we have your back!" I was concerned that the car might get stolen, that we might get mugged, or ???

A very kind, Jamaican Reggae man opened the door, with a baby daughter in his arms. He took us into the backyard through the garage. The first dog to greet us was the daddy -- and was he ever the most beautiful dog you have ever seen! And sweet. A gorgeous german shepherd. According to the owner, his mother was a police dog. The mommy was a sweet, pretty dog as well, but not as breathtakingly stunning.

Andrew spied Harley back in the corner of the yard. That was it -- love at first sight. We ended up buying him, and Andrew held him in his arms all of the way home. (Curtis, who stayed home, wasn't very happy with me at this point.) We stopped at Petco, to buy puppy supplies. Harley sat in the front seat of the basket, and everybody cooed over him. Tanya raced over to the pet store to meet Harley, excited by our new addition.

We finally arrived home, and I had just a couple of hours to go before Curtis and I had to leave for my party. I scooped Harley out of Andrew's arms before he could even get out of the car, ran out to the backyard with him, put him down on the grass, and he immediately went pee-pee! Curtis came outside to see him. I said, "Have you ever seen such an adorable puppy?" And Curtis melted when he saw the puppy.

Andrew and I bathed Harley in the kitchen sink, dried him off, and tried to get him to eat. I told Andrew that he and his friends were going to have to take care of Harley all evening -- no going out! They all agreed (by now we had accreted a pack of six teenagers), and so Curtis and I got ready and left for my party.

That was the beginning of Harley's love affair with teenagers. To this day, the grungier, the louder the music, the louder the car, the happier Harley is. When he is out walking, if he hears a loud car -- that's it -- he is looking for Andrew. Loud music? Hmm ... Andrew must be around ...

My party was lovely, and I had a great time. We got home rather late, but everything seemed to be under control. I don't think Harley's feet touched the ground the entire time we were gone. Everybody was very busy holding him, and giving him love ...

I finally got to hold Harley, and play with him. And then my heart melted. He was busy chasing a new toy, and looked up at me with his gorgeous eyes -- and that was it. He had hold of my heart, just like my previous dogs. I knew that he would bring great joy and love to our lives.