The Furries of Our Lives

Picking Peyton & Jeter Watts

Tara had a whippet years ago and had always wanted another one. I was not familiar with the breed and after hearing the story of how he chewed through a door frame and locked her out of the apartment, I was quite the skeptic. We couldn't find any breeders or anyone looking to re-home a whippet. A high school friend of mine posted some pictures of her whippets on Facebook while they were out on a play date and I fell in love with them. She said they were quite the social little butterflies. She told me to look through PuppyFinder.com (where she got both of her babies) and I just happened to stumble across a breeder with a litter that was just born. I kept an eye on them and watched how each pup developed in personality. We decided we were ready to add to our family and get a puppy. Peyton was the runt with the lovable and sweet personality. He loved being independent and asked for attention when he needed it. He was also the first puppy to start potty training which was a huge plus for us since it was one of the things we were concerned about. A picture of him was finally posted. We contacted the breeder to let her know we'd chosen Kirby (Peyton's birth name). She often emailed with updates and how he was doing. She sent us a picture of him running through the fields. He was such a cutie pie and we had to have him!

Then one day, I was looking through PuppyFinder again just to look at all the other cute puppies. We had a Doberman while I was growing up and I'd always wanted to have one. We first decided we'd add another puppy to the family after Peyton was a few years old, but lo and behold! There was a litter of Doberman pups about 30 minutes from Peyton's breeder and was born a week earlier! We thought it was destiny and started contact with her breeder. She documented every single day of the litter's lives so we got to get a full picture of what kind of puppy Jeter would be. She had pictures online of how each pup interacted with their siblings. Jeter was energetic by morning, lazy by day and night! She was very smart and loved to play with the puppies in her litter and her Mom's Dalmation sister. We figured she'd be the perfect match for Peyton.

We found both of our future babies late March of 2011 and kept in close contact with the breeders so we couldn't miss a moment of their first 6-7 weeks of life. We picked both of them up on May 12, 2011. At first they seemed uninterested    in each other but inched their way to each other as the night wore on.

Before you knew it, the were best buds sharing the same toys and spooning each other.

They already had a feline brother, Fido, at home waiting for them and he was anxious to sniff out his new family members. He was outnumbered but he let his new canine brothers play with him and then he became one of the dogs. :)

Even though, Peyton did end up being a wall chewer and Jeter likes to play "Minute to Win It" when emptying out her stuffed animals and dog beds, we are so happy with our decision to add Peyton and Jeter to our family. Their companionship and willingness to please has been such a heartwarming experience. We've enjoyed watching them grow into their personalities and while at times training them has been a challenge, we would never trade it for anything in the world. We love our furry, little children. What they say about dogs being the most loyal best friends you could have is true. They really do lighten up your mood and fill your heart with so much love. We love them so much! While having such opposite personalities, they complete each other and our family. :)