I've recently wrote about who inspired the url daisydo.com. So I've decided to tell you about daisy for now.

Daisy Do Dapper is a 26.5 pound mutt dog that I adopted on Valentines Day 1998.

Here is her story...

I was finally moving into a house that I had ownership of, and I couldn't wait to get a dog. I knew I wanted a certain kind of dog. Small enough to sit on my lap, furry poodle hair, and hopefully white in color with black ears. You see, I had a dog named Pete when I was growing up. He was the best dog, and he met those specifications. I figured that a white dog with black ears and poodle hair must be just like Pete. Boy, I was wrong on that one.

I when move in was a week away, I decided to start looking for this Pete dog look-a-like. My nephew and I were on a quest. He wanted a Pete dog too. So, I watched the Saturday and Sunday newspaper ads to see where the rescue societies were holding adoptions. The first one I saw was at a pet store near my sisters house.

Hootie and I jumped in the car to see what they might have. I went in looking for a puppy. Then I saw Xena. White poodle hair with black ears. She was so thin... 16 pounds to be exact. I was drawn to her. She looked so sad. She had recently had puppies, and had a horrible hair cut. I picked her up and she just sat on my lap and let me hold her (she does not do this anymore). It didn't matter to me that she wasn't a puppy. She needed me. Even though I didn't have a home to take her to, I took her home.

Hootie was ecstatic. He was drawn to her coloring and hair just as I was. We decided that Xena was not a good name. Daisy just came to me out of mid air. She was so scared as we drove her home. She shook in the car, just as she does now. I bought her the food the agency said she had been eating (which she hated). She got a pink collar and leach, and a bunch of toys (which she hated). I figured that this was my Valentines Day present to myself.

One would think that this would be the end of the story. WRONG! As with just about everything with this dog, nothing is that easy. After a wonderful nights sleep at my sisters house (on the futon), I woke up and walked Daisy. Hootie got ready for school, and I was getting ready for work. Hootie opened the door to leave for school. I warned him not to let Daisy out. Too late. That dog was gone. My brother-in-law ran out after her, which just made her run more. We followed her with my car. All around my sisters neighborhood, David and I chased that dog. He on foot, me in the car. We never did catch her. David said that he saw her bounce off of a car tire and keep running.

My poor Daisy, out on the street, hurt and lost. It was a week later before someone answered the ad I had placed in the Mercury News. When I finally went to pick her up, I bent down and asked her where she had been. She kissed my nose. After all that, she remembered that she was supposed to be with me. She has not let me be more that 6 feet away from her since. It seems that she really didn't want to run away after all.
 

Daisy died on April 15, 2009. She is sorely missed.