It was fate…

If you’re someone that knows me pretty well, you probably know how superstitious I am. It can be borderline baseball weird-level superstition, but I’m a firm believer in fate and good “juju” as I often refer to it. Looking back, I can’t help but think it was fate of a simple question and magazine cover that led me to my Palmetto Rose. 

2020 was a wild year for us all. The world was literally in meltdown and somehow in the middle of it all I was able to purchase my first home. While I have no intentions of living the city life forever (give me a farm and land any day of the week), it was a paid convenience and good investment for me since I worked downtown at the time. I also had the intention of when I bought a house, I would look into getting my dog I always wanted - as I was NOT paying rent on a pet. 

During the closing of my house, I started to do a little research on breeders in the NC/SC/VA region. I wasn’t set on a breed (mostly considering Boykins or Vizslas at the time), but I knew I wanted a bird dog. I called so many breeders and never got a single call back. I don’t know if it was the craziness of 2020 or if it was the fact that this 28-year old girl at the time (who probably sounded like she was 16) was inquiring about a hunting dog that she wanted to train, hunt, and field trial. Not one person called me back, and it was starting to become a little disappointing as I simply wanted to vet my breeder, get on a waitlist, and ultimately find the right dog for me…not go pick one up the next day. 

After I closed on my house, I ramped up the search a bit more as my house was too big for just me. Ramping up the search just led to more disappointment as I still couldn’t make contact with anyone. I could see it from the view of the breeder, what does this girl want with a hunting dog? She’s not serious is she? This is probably a scam… etc etc. I mean I get that kind of skepticism. I face it every day being a female engineer.  

My dad was pretty helpful throughout the process. He helped me vet breeders, gave me questions to ask, and showed me what type of paperwork I should look for/ask about if one ever happened to return my inquiry. But with every helpful tidbit he would give me, my dad would also simply ask “did you consider a Shorthair?” I honestly didn’t think he was serious, but it became a normal question he would ask on a daily basis that I would just laugh off until fate as I call it intervened late September of 2020. 

I had called my dad on the way home from work one day and was still on the phone with him as I checked the mail when he asked the famous question “did you consider a Shorthair” for what felt like the millionth time. I honestly didn’t know what to say because at this point I had opened my mailbox and there was my favorite magazine, Garden & Gun, sitting in the mailbox with a dang Shorthair on the front of it. It took only 3 weeks of my own stubbornness and letting that magazine bore holes into my heart as it lay on my coffee table unread. I refused to even open it…which is odd because I LOVE that magazine and read it cover to cover. I finally opened it up one night in October, went straight to the Shorthair article and I knew I was done for. 

The next day, I found a breeder - the first one that came up to be clear -  on AKC and NAVHDA puppy listing that was located outside of Summerville, SC. The breeder, Mr. Ramsey had all the credentials I was looking for (pedigree/certifications), so I decided to give him a call. At first, he said all the current puppies were spoken for, which was ok, as I just wanted on a waitlist at that point. After an hour-long conversation, he apologized for leading me on and said that there WAS a potential puppy. It was a puppy Mr. Ramsey said showed the most promise out of the litter, was the first to take to birds, and had a solid temperament. He and his wife weren’t set on the current family that had selected her since they weren’t hunters, and they felt like it would be a waste of the dog’s potential if they let her go to that home. Our conversation ended with him saying he needed to have some hard discussions with his family and that particular family but would follow up with me the next day. 

Fate intervened and Mr. Ramsey promptly called me back the next day and said if you want the dog, she’s all yours - the only stipulation was I had to come pick her up the following weekend since she was already 8 weeks old. No problem. The next weekend, my mom and I drove all the way to Summerville, SC to pick up my best friend - Peddler’s Branch Two on the Rise Rosie. 

Owning a Shorthair is not for the faint of heart, but I’m so glad I was (and still am) crazy enough to put up with the sass and wit of one every day. She’s helped me find myself, and my voice again through my art. She’s taught me that there’s a place for females in the outdoors (shout-out to my Tarheel NAVHDA chapter), and that through the grit of life there is grace. 

My dad made the comment this past fall that Rosie and I were meant for each other, and I can’t help but think that he’s right. It was honestly fate (and a magazine cover) that brought us together, and I can’t help but wonder where she’d be if I had never followed my intuition. I love my Palmetto Rose and I’m so thankful she got to be mine. 

Stayed tuned for a Part II…