The Story of Molly
Picture it, Pittsburgh, 2013. A cold winter’s day in January. Trees are bare, Christmas decorations have been taken down, light snow on the ground and the kids are back in school after the holiday break. I’m at work sitting in my office tapping on the keyboard oblivious to the phone call I’m about ready to receive. My iPhone rings and my wife, Kris, was displayed on the screen. Naturally I answer it only to be greeted with a somber-toned voice of melancholy. “What’s wrong” I say. “I’m lonely” she states followed by “I want a big fluffy dog to keep me company”. After taking a moment to unpack that statement I responded “Oookay, what’s going on?”. “It’s lonely in the house with the kids in school all day. I want a dog to keep me company and here’s what I’m thinking…” from there I hear a list of big, hairy, sloppy dog breeds that she has been Googling for the last few hours followed by a barrage of dog faces in my text messages. And I just don’t mean big, I mean giants! Mastiffs, Great Pyrenees, Newfies, Berners, Saint Bernards, etc.… I chuckled a bit and said, okay, let’s do some research and pick one. And so it began…
We moved to Pittsburgh less than a year earlier. Prior to the move, our black lab, Onyx, had to be put down due to illness. We all missed her terribly so the fact that Kris and I were talking about getting another dog made us both very happy and excited. We both individually began our research of the different giants breeds that would be the right fit for our family and living conditions. Kris kept migrating toward the Bernese Mountain Dog and would send me Berner puppy pictures constantly. As I researched the breed I learned that the BMD is the perfect dog for our family, big, loving, good with kids. The only thing that caused hesitation was that they don’t typically live long, seven to 10 years on average.
One day, my wife was at a school function and struck up a conversation with another mom. Somehow they got on the subject of dogs and the woman mentioned, ironically, that they had a Bernese Mountain Dog. My wife couldn’t believe it. Was this destiny? Kris’ face lit-up and asked to hear about their Dog and the woman obliged enthusiastically. She went on to say that the Berner is “…the best breed in the world, great family dog, very affectionate, smart”. Kris was happy to hear this but mentioned the longevity issue. The woman stated: “Yes, Berners don’t typically live as long as other breeds, about eight years, but it will be the best eight years of your life.”. That was it, sold! Enter the second phase…the search for BMD breeders.
The search didn’t last long. I was mentioning to a colleague at work that we were looking to adopt a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. This person mentioned that another coworker has a Berner and that I should talk to him…which I did. Turns out that the coworker got his dog, Ranger (I can remember dog names but not people!), from a breeder in Ohio and followed with their contact info. We called and, luckily enough, they had a new litter that was going to be available soon. A couple of weeks later, we arrived at the facility and had our pick of the litter. We wanted a “lively” dog that had some energy and would be interest in the kids. All of the puppies were huddled together in a black, brown, and white mass…except one. This one was chasing my daughter around the patio area. She was a good size, had classic Berner markings, and had that energy. She was the one.
The three-hour drive back to Pittsburgh was a fun one. We had a new puppy in the car after all. Kris says, “What do we name her?”. Of course, the kids took the opportunity to perform a rapid-fire naming session covering everything from “ Annabelle” to “Zelda”. Someone, and I don’t remember who, blurted out “Molly, Oh Golly Miss Molly”. We all simultaneously yelled, “Yea!”. And there it was. Welcome to the family Molly!
