Introducing Vino Valentino

When Luke passed at seventeen years of age, I missed him every day. I still do. I didn’t plan on getting another dog for quite a while, but Luke’s best friend, Bella, and my husband, Mike, convinced me otherwise.

Bella was an independent spirit when it came to other dogs, but we could tell she was missing Luke and the canine companionship he gave to her. She was a daddy’s girl, and Mike gave her as much attention as he could after Luke was gone, but he couldn’t always be home with her. He kept telling me that Bella needed some company, and I couldn’t disagree. Even though I wasn’t ready for a new dog, the rest of my family had other ideas.

We contacted a breeder we knew who had a great reputation. The puppies from her litters were raised in her home and were well socialized with all of her family members, including her grandchildren. She had a litter that would be born soon, and we were given the pick of the litter. We knew we wanted a male. When the puppies were born, we visited several times before making our choice of which one would be coming to his forever home with us. Mike was set on a tri-colored male with a spunky attitude. I favored a tan and white male with a mask and three tan spots on his body. The coloring on his head was like that of Luke. For that reason, I didn’t want to choose him. He reminded too much of Luke and I didn’t want to be reminded of his loss on a daily basis, but that little puppy’s personality just spoke to me. “Pick me, pick me,” he said with his wiggly little body and puppy breath. I couldn’t resist.

We named him Vino Valentino and he came to live with us about five months after Luke’s passing. He’s 13 now. Luke would have been proud to know him and happy I made the choice I did. He is different from Luke in many ways. Just as people have different personalities, so do dogs. I look forward to sharing many of Vino’s stories and adventures with you.