How Smokey Met His Mother

by Curt Egerer
(Michigan)

Fancy recovering from another surgery

In August 2008, my wife and I bought a Schnauzer puppy from a private breeder in a rural area a couple of hours from home. The breeder lived on a farm with horses and was somewhat distraught when I arrived. One of her horses had been stolen overnight! My daughter named our new puppy Smokey.

Fast forward almost 7 years to June 2015. We had lost one of our other dogs (a Coonhound-Doberman mix) a few months prior and had been looking for another to adopt with no luck. One day, I suggested to my wife that we look for another Schnauzer. So I did a Google search and only one dog came up. It was an older female Mini Schnauzer that had been neglected and returned to its original owner. I called immediately and set up a time to meet the following day.

As I was driving, it occurred to me that I was in the same general area as where I had bought Smokey. When I arrived, a woman brought out the dog. Her name was Fancy and she was very scrawny-looking and completely shaved. Apparently, she had been badly matted. She had a couple of good-size lumps too that were concerning.

As we talked, I asked if she had ever sold Schnauzers before. She said no, but my mother sold a litter about 6-7 years ago. I said, did your mother live on a farm? She said yes. I said, did your mother have a horse stolen? She said, how do you know that? I said, I bought Smokey the day after her horse was stolen. The woman looked at me with a tear in her eye and said, Fancy is Smokey's mother ... I think we both in shock.

At this point I got Smokey out of the car to see if they would get along. Smokey gets extremely excited and sometimes aggressive with new dogs until he gets used to them. Not this time. Fancy and Smokey sniffed each other briefly and then sat down alongside one another as calm as could be.

What are the odds? Completely out-of-the-blue I decide to search for a Schnauzer to adopt. Only hours before, an ad was placed on a random website. I'm the only person to reply to the ad. And the dog turns out to be Smokey's mother who is in desperate need of a family.

Fancy was a wonderful dog. She became my constant companion, never more than a few feet away from me. She had her share of health problems and she was a regular at the vet. But in between, she was extremely active and loved to ride in the car and go to the park. She didn't nap much during the day. She was always up and ready to go. Almost like she was making up for lost time.

In November 2016, she was diagnosed with Lymphoma and given only a month or so to live. She was a fighter and made it 3 months until her disease became so bad, we simply ran out of options. She was a good girl. I miss her a lot.

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