Christmas morning 2006, after 11-year-old Marc and his younger sister opened presents their mother mysteriously announced, “I have one more present for you to share.”
She left the room and returned with two confusing red towels covered with black-paw prints.
She smiled and said, “Santa can’t deliver a dog, but your grandma and I can.” Then to the children’s joy she added the magical words that all children want to hear on Christmas morning, “You have a dog, a Yorkie.”
“For years, our family had talked about getting a small dog, but nothing was set in stone,” said Marc. “This news was thrilling.”
Their grandmother lived on Vancouver Island, an hour and a half ferry trip from them. She and their mother had been holding secret conversations about gifting the children with a dog. Their granny was in charge of checking out dog breeds and availability. She and their mother settled on a Yorkie.
Apparently, their grandmother had taken ‘the secret puppy mission’ seriously to heart.
“Our mother laughed and said, ‘There probably isn’t a breeder on Vancouver Island that didn’t know your Grandma was looking for a dog’” said Marc. “She chose this puppy because it was the only one that came and sat on her lap. She had been hiding her ‘little’ secret in her home for three weeks.
The next morning, we boarded the ferry to go and pick up our Christmas dog,” said Marc, “My sister and I were so excited. Imagine our anticipation. Then in the middle of the strait, the old ferry boat ground to a halt. “Nooooo!” The technical problems added more time onto our long journey, but all we could think about was meeting our new ‘baby brother’, Scamp. Our mother once had a dog named Scamp and when my grandma adopted the puppy, she named him Scamp - and it
stuck.
When we arrived at our grandmother’s, she opened the door, and Scamp came scampering around the corner. He was tiny and shy and clung to her, but as soon as he became familiar with us, he relaxed and was very comfortable.
He does a lot of cute and funny things. Just look at his face, how could he not! He has several red round beds and curls up in them like a fuzzy ball. As cute as he is, he has bad manners and goes crazy when the postal carrier comes to the door.
Scamp was the best Christmas gift I have ever received. He has been a great part of my life for the last 14 years. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood dog then Scamp to train and teach me about love and compassion.”
