A Painting a Day - Day 38

My family wanted a dog. I did not. My son was 5, my daughter was about to turn 3 later that year. We were working on potty training. I told my husband I would consider a puppy after I had everyone out of diapers because I knew who would be potty training a dog. That was not why I didn't want a dog. I felt fear towards dogs. I felt like they were smelly and obnoxious. The experiences I had had with dogs growing up was not warm and fuzzy. Mostly they jumped on me and made my hands smell bad. And one did bite me. But my husband and my son wanted a puppy.  So I went looking.

My husband wanted a particular type of dog - a shepherd mix that would be similar to a dog he had growing up. Apparently they weren't making that kind of dog at the time in this area because there were only lab and pit-bull mixes. I looked for about a week in the paper and on Petfinder.com. Finally I found a beautiful border collie puppy and I called the rescue only to find out they had already found him a home (SHOOT!) but.... there was this little female shepherd mix that was SOO cute! I said, we were are looking for a male. But I said I would look at her profile.

She was SO cute! I showed her to my husband. A day later we brought Daisy home and she is my third child. I went from being strictly a cat person to totally loving her and that opened my heart to other dogs.

This pretty border collie is probably what the puppy I missed looks like now. I bet he is beautiful. But I am glad he found a home and because of that I looked at another puppy. Not only did she get me over my discomfort with dogs, but she has made me appreciate the love people have for their dogs and I love that I am getting the chance to do pet portraits now. Funny how life can be in one place and turn and send us in an unexpected direction and it was the way you had hope to go all along.

This is my 38th painting and it is available for sale for $38. It is painted on 8 x 10 watercolor paper. If you would like to buy it, please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com. The first person I hear from can buy it. Thanks for visiting my blog. See you tomorrow! (Side note: I highly recommend Petfinder.com if you are looking to adopt a pet.)