While My Two Dogs Gently Sleep

I stand in the laundry room of a complete stranger, newspaper layered across the floor. A squirming heap of gray softness undulates near the dryer. The woman pulls one of the puppies from the pile and sets it down a foot or so away. She gently picks up another, then another until all nine little bodies are crawling around trying to reorganize into their warm sleeping mass.

My wife and I gaze down at the three-week old puppies. They’re all almost identical in color and markings; gray fur with black spots, white belly and paws. The woman who owns the puppies shares her history as a breeder and gives us relevant facts about the lineage of the puppies. I don’t really care about the pedigree.  I’m not interested in showing the dog or getting into breeding. I just want a family pet.