Baby Westie Meets Mom, Daddy and Cory

Fond memories of our first sighting of ababy Westie are still very vivid when I visited the pet store one particular day.  I was looking for booties for Cory, our 1 year old Shi-tzu Maltese crossed puppy.  There was lots of snow and  it was bitterly cold outside. It was just two weeks away to Christmas.  So we tried different booties, it was funny to see Cory trying to adjust to his new “paws”.

On our way to the cash, Cory pulled on his leash and I was led in the direction of the kennel (no coincidence huh)… he wanted to go see the other pups — so we did.  He probably knew that a new destiny was just around the corner.  Indeed, to my surprise and amazement, I thought I saw a few furry white Westie pups……. “in the corner of my eyes”.

“I can’t believe what I am seeing”, I said to myself, because Westies are a rare breed where we live.  Approaching closer, I started to  shiver all over.  “Oh no…… oh no, these can’t be Westies……….”, and then the realization that what I was seeing were indeed 3 beautiful Westie puppies. But only one got my undivided attention, I had to touch him,  feel him in the palm of my hand.

I was watching Cory at the same time and I could feel he was attracted to the little Westie.

I had to call Dan at work RIGHT AWAY and tell him that I saw a beautiful Westie pup, “we don’t have to buy him”,  I exclaimed, “please come and see him at least!”  I had used the same strategy for 2 other dogs we owned before and it had worked (smile), as they say, when there is a will, there is a way.  And I knew that Dan just loved the breed (his family owned a beautiful Westie for many years and Dan loved him dearly), and so did I.

At that time, I used to bring Cory with me to a Seniors Care Home where I worked.  It was wonderful therapy for the residents and it had been on my mind to get another dog to be a companion for Cory, however I knew that this could be costly.

Cory and the little Westie fell in love while playing together at the pet store for about an hour.  And of course, we couldn’t leave the little Westie behind.  We brought him home.  Christmas came early that year with a special gift of love for a Westie.

What should we name our little furry friend? It had to be  a Scottish name for sure. Dan’s ideas for names were quite intuitive — mine didn’t sound right. After all Dan’s knack for choosing a Scottish name could be attributed to the fact that he is half Scottish from his mom’s side of the family.

The first name that popped up in Dan’s mind was Bruce, and it stuck for a couple of days, but we had a change of heart when we got to know our little Westie’s personality. And Dan’s intuition surfaced again and he blurted “Duncan!” The name resonated with me and it was a perfect name for our Westie. It’s been Duncan ever since. The name sounded rugged yet refined at the same time.  And that personified our Westie quite well. Our dog’s persona exuded an air of boldness and ruggedness while at times seemingly refined.  So…… “Duncan”……  so be it!

A few months later, life dealt us a blow with Cory in an unfortunate and painful way!  I believe that’s the reason why Christmas had brought us Duncan –  to bring love to assuage our pain from Cory’s demise.