Chapter 1a: The Beginning

Chapter 1: The beginning
Chase and I started our journey together much like many other pet/owner relationships start. I had thought about getting a dog for a while and decided to look in the newspaper. I remember sitting in Phil and Tim’s, (we used to call it Filthy Tim’s,) in Boulder, MT on a Sunday morning waiting for the football games to start and saw the want ads strewn about a table next to me. With nobody still sitting at the table, just remnants of a couple’s breakfast left waiting for a busser, I figured the ads were fair game.

Sipping coffee and finishing my own breakfast, I flipped through the pages until I came to the dog column. Labs are pretty popular and I knew I wanted one. I know it’s a bit cliché for a guy like me—early thirties, fly fishing guy/back country guru—to have a lab under toe but I really did like labs. I thought with the work I did with kids and wanting a bird dog on top of it, a lab would be perfect. I fingered over ads for Sheppard’s, Border Collies, mixes but only one ad for Labrador Retrievers. They were chocolate and the breeder was selling the males for $400.

I don’t think anyone in my family at that point had ever spent $400 for a dog before. I was a little apprehensive but justified the money with the fact the breeder had researched the blood lines and was guaranteeing championship quality and certified hips. I made the call and a young woman answered the phone.

We spoke for a while about the lines she had been breeding and I bought all she was selling. The sire was a champion and the bitch only produced pure chocolates. There was only one puppy left so if I wanted one, I had better hurry. Lori Davis was the breeder and she was confident she was producing the best labs around. I believed her and that night, I was on my way to Whitehall, MT to check the puppy out.

It was early December and as the sun set, the air became very cold. I took a buddy of mine with me to Lori’s place and drove into the drive-way at around eight o’clock. She brought me to the garage and introduced me to the female. After accepting me, Lori walked me to the pen with the puppies. Nine puppies—all six weeks old—littered the pen. Some were cuddling together, some were playing and some were gnawing on each other’s ears. All of them had different colored ribbons on them except one. As I approached the pen, he came to me.

Lori explained to us that eight of the puppies were spoken for. A gentleman called her earlier and requested number eight without looking at them. She told me she picked the better of the two left and claimed him for the man. If I wanted to however, I could have the puppy she chose for the caller and she would sell the ninth to him. Out of all the puppies in the pen, the only one not spoken for climbed up my leg.

“That’s ok, I’ll take this one.”