A Story About Socks

This story is about my family's dog, Socks, and how he came to be such an important part of our family. The story does not begin with him, but many years before. It starts with a family and a flea market on a hot summer day. This flea market has indoor and outdoor portions, but it's blazing hot no matter whether your inside or out. Now at this flea market is a stall with a large tent and many dog carriers. They are all empty, with the dogs free roaming in a caged in area. Now what's a family to do with two small children who spot dogs to do but to fall in love with one?

Enter, Miller, our family's first dog. We all loved him dearly, even though he was a naughty little puppy. If he could do something naughty, he did, but to highlight the best one: Miller meets mattress. Mattress meets teeth. Teeth win. Miller was a phenomenal dog, who would protect us when needed. He grew up into an ornery old creature who had a hard time moving around. Now while he was the family dog, it was very clear to everyone involved that he was my dad's dog through and through. That dog was his best friend up until the end. When the end did come, and we knew it was too cruel to keep him alive for our sakes, my dad made the tough decision to put Miller down. His last day was a happy day for him. It was a good day where he could run and play like his joints weren't failing him. It was hard on us all. Especially my dad.

Now, what does this have to do with Socks? It was a year or two before my dad was emotionally ready for another pet. Losing a pet is extremely hard, but it was even harder for my dad. By this point, he lived alone, having dealt with a separation from my mom. He was hesitant about getting another dog with the knowledge that he would eventually have to go through that pain again. My sister and I were persistent, though, and kept perusing shelter websites for the next family dog. When we finally convinced our dad, he had a few requests on the next dog. The main one being that the dog was part Australian Shepherd. One thing led to another, and we found a rescue down in Illinois that had a litter of Australian Shepherd Corgi mixes.

We showed them to my dad, and he begrudgingly agreed to put in an application for one of the puppies. This is where things get interesting. To submit an application online, after filling out all of your information and paying the application fee, this particular rescue required you to fill out a CAPTCHA. We all know these to be the test to prove you're human. They're usually a bunch of random numbers and letters that just form gibberish. Not this time. The CAPTCHA for the puppy we applied for was one simple word: "Miller." We obviously freaked out, because if that's not a sign that this is our next dog, I don't know what is.

Now enter, Socks. After our application was approved and all the necessary steps were taken to ensure we had a proper home for a dog, we finally got to do the final important step of meeting him. If the meeting went well, he would come home with us. The meeting went wonderfully, and that very day, the tiny puppy got to come home with us. He was a bundle of energy from the get go, thanks to the Australian Shepherd in him. As all puppies are, he was a little unsure of us and the new environment, at first.

That didn't last long as we played and bonded. Once again, he quickly became my dad's dog. He is more than we bargained for, but he is exactly we needed. He's an incredibly playful dog, but he's just as protective. When we take him to our cabin up north, he is the best guard dog we could ask for. Our whole extended family loves him to pieces, and spoils him, too. He's pretty much the only dog in the family, right now.

All I know is, I feel like he was picked out for us special. It just feels like too big of a coincidence for our previous dog's name to show up the way it did. Whatever it was that made it happen, I'm glad it did. I think that CAPTCHA was the final nudge my dad needed to get a new pet. I don't think we could have asked for a more perfect companion. We all love this dorky dog, especially his dorky smile.