(S) He's so Unusual

When I started to write this entry, I instantly thought about Cyndi Lauper's megahit album of 1983, She's So Unusual. I cannot believe it was that long ago and that Cyndi Lauper (top) is now in her mid fifties, and still looking great, I might add. Heck, I was not even a big fan of hers, but I did admire how she took chances with her music and her persona. So with apologies to Cyndi Lauper, I am borrowing the title of that album to describe my dog, Willie Bear (right). It seems like he even has the same expression on his face as Cyndi Lauper.

Willie Bear is a pomeranian unlike any that you have ever seen. Weighing in at twenty three pounds of pure muscle, he is nearly four times the size of a show quality pom. We knew he was going to be a big verson of a pomeranian when we got him, and purposely chose him because of that. His pom mother was 10 pounds and his daddy was 15 pounds. We wanted a more substantial dog than the show type, but also wanted the pomeranian personality.

Willie Bear's human parents had advertised their puppies in the paper and I called to inquired about them. They had three females and one male puppy. I was interested in the male, but the man I talked to said the male was already promised to a co-worker of his. I then called back a second time to ask if we could see their puppies anyway and the man said sure. We drove to to their home which was located off a dirt road in the woods near Havana, Florida.

My husband kept saying that he had a bad feeling about it all as we drove deeper into the woods. I kept reassuring him that the man I had talked to twice was the nicest man and that everything would be fine. As we drove up, I saw four doggie faces in the front window of the house. All four were happy pomeranians. That was a good sign.

But just as we walked up to the door, a huge mountain of a man with long hair, a bushy beard, and an earring in one ear opened the door. He was barefoot and dressed in bib overalls. At that point I was sure that my husband was hearing banjo music and would be running straight for our truck. But the minute the man spoke, my husband relaxed. This very intimidating man had a very soft spoken, kind voice. He introduced himself as William and asked us to come inside.

As we walked in the door, I noticed a full size piano and several guitars in the living room. William introduced us to his wife Linda. I asked about the musical instruments and they told us that they were musicians in a country and western band, in additon to their regular jobs.

They had four adult dogs, all pomeranians. Two of the dogs were fixed and were just pets. The other two dogs were the parents of the puppies that they had for sale. Then we got to meet all the puppies. They had given names to each puppy and the male dog was called Bear.

William and Linda turned out to be just the nicest people and we probably spent at least an hour and a half in their living room talking with them. We liked their attitude toward their animals. But since we wanted a male and Bear was already sold, we asked them if they would contact us if they decided to breed another litter. Linda said it would be at least a year, but she would take our name and keep us at the top of her list.

Bear was first sold to William's co-worker who was a woman who lived with her daughter and small grandchild. After having Bear for a little over two weeks, she called Linda asking is she could return him. She said that he was too much to handle with a small child in the same house. Immediately, Linda called us and asked if we still wanted Bear. Oh course we said yes, and we ended up with Bear when he was a little over three months of age.

We decided to change his name to Willie Bear to honor his human daddy William. The name fits. He is wild, weird, huge, and unconventianal. Like Cyndi Lauper and like his human daddy, William, Willie Bear is so unusual.