My children have shown their love for animals from the moment they began to express themselves. For years they have begged my husband and myself for a puppy. I was the resistance all these years as I figured most of the care would have to be given by me as he has a pretty demanding schedule. I never had any pets of my own and only last year picked up a puppy for the first time in my life when my neighbor’s escaped and she couldn’t get it. It’s not that I don’t like animals but simply that I was never comfortable with them. When we decided to take on the task of owning a puppy I did a lot of research. The girls wanted a Shiba Inu after seeing it on a dog show and doing much research. I knew it would be a handful, but decided it was time.
In my search I located breeders within a reasonable traveling distance. My sister in law who is very experienced with animals viewed the sites and thought that Ice Wind was the way to go. I was very nervous. Her key advice (which I take her advice very seriously) was JoAnn, take the first puppy that runs up to you. (that piece of advice will be important later.)
Now onto my experience with Ice Wind, Karen & Anya were just wonderful to deal with. I was a nervous wreck as I was going to be picking this puppy up without my husband or kids. I was so afraid that I wasn’t going to pick a good one. I know this may sound ridiculous to some of you, but I was truly scared. Karen put my fears to ease and Anya said not to worry that she’d find the perfect puppy for me, also that if I changed my mind when I got there I could take a different one. When I showed up at Ice Winds, I was truly impressed with all the knowledge Anya had. She was a delight. She told me all the important things I should know and helped me pick out everything that I would need to get started. When I walked up to the puppies there was this one little pup that came running over to me it was the one Anya had chosen for me, as if the puppy knew that my sister in law told me to take the first one that came over to me. HOWEVER, I was torn because there was an absolutely darling one in the corner. I decided that since the one Anya picked for me was also the first one to run over to me I was going to stick with that one, even though that other one in the corner was so adorable that I wanted to take her too!!! I have emailed Karen many times since getting this puppy for Christmas. Just filling her in on how we are doing.
The puppy (which we named Cleopatra and call her Cleo for short) is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to our family. She is intelligent, adorable and truly the best puppy for us. Anya did a splendid job of picking her for us. She also had the knowledge to give someone with no animal skills the confidence to take care of her properly. Anya put my mind at ease, and never in her wildest dreams could she imagine the joy she has brought to our family. You might ask why Anya would bring us joy, I’ll tell you why, if Anya hadn’t made me believe that I could handle this I would have backed out and my kids would not have gotten that puppy. Without her caring attitude and delightful spirit I would never have believed that I could do this.
Thank you Anya and Karen for all you have done for us.
Sincerely, JoAnn, Bob, Alex, Kayla and Cleo !