Madeline in the City

Davis and I bought our first home in late 2007 and we started looking for a dog right away. Davis wanted a giant dog (like near 100 pounds...which means they slobber) as he grew up with some huge dogs. And I wanted a medium sized dog that would not slobber and hopefully never shed one hair.

This was gonna be tough.

We had been looking on petfinder.com as buying a dog was not an option for us. We wanted to get a dog from a rescue or shelter since there are so very many absolutely wonderful dogs without homes. We had not yet found a candidate in Los Angeles and since Davis was heading to Arizona for work, I started looking at dogs available in Phoenix.

I came across these pictures. Done.

I mean how can you pass this guy up?

He was listed as a Bernese Mountain dog mix. Clearly he is not, but that was one of the mixes we were searching for and so we found our match. His name was Shoane.

We contacted the rescue and Davis went to meet this cute puppy one day after work while on his business trip. The owner was a little apprehensive since we were from out of town and she did not usually place dogs out of state.

He crawled into Davis' lap and started licking him. Snuggled into his lap. Done.

Davis went back a day later, picked him up and drove to Los Angeles. Poor puppy puked the whole way.

I still remember meeting Davis in our parking lot in Playa Vista just after driving from Arizona. Hyde ran right up to me and climbed in my lap. Little dude was just adorable.

We named him Hyde as we lived in San Francisco prior to Los Angeles. We wanted a name that would remind us of San Francisco since we loved living there. One of our favorite restaurants was on the Hyde Street and the same suited him. So it stuck.


Fast forward 6 years. How do we get Hyde from Los Angeles to London? An airplane was not an option, you see, as Hyde has a slight separation anxiety problem. Ten plus hours on a plane would not be good for him and who knows the state he would arrive in.

So we tried our luck and got on the wait list for a kennel on The Queen Mary 2. The kennels get booked a year in advance but we lucked out and someone canceled for the October voyage.

Hyde left California on October 15 and drove across the country to New Jersey with Davis' dad (Obie) and his wife (Gladys to Davis and I and Lita to M). They drove via Memphis as Gladys had to make a stop at Graceland to see the King.

Hyde left the port of New York on The Queen Mary 2 on October 28. He arrives in London on November 4.

There is a part of me who is super excited about his arrival. Then there is a part of me who has really enjoyed life the past few months without the responsibility of a dog and all that damn dog hair. Everywhere.

That being said, Madeline is super excited to have her doggie back. She plans to ride him like a horse...

He's always been a good sport.


It's kinda funny how we named him Hyde after living San Francisco and now we find ourselves living in London. One of those full circle moments that you never see coming.

Be sure to check out this blog. It's a wonderful account of the adventure of taking your dog along on The Queen Mary 2. You can see what Hyde's adventure will be like!

Cheers!
Kelley