Since we added Elsa to our family many, many people have asked me "why did it take so long?" Yes I could have walked out and got any puppy, anywhere. But, adding a puppy to my very aging pack and having it work was going to be tricky. I have been trying to add a puppy to our pack for several years and got very close several times.
My specifications were that the puppy not be dominant and would listen to her elders. It had to be a "her" because Sir Luke is King around here; or at least he considers him as such and at the ripe old age of eleven I didn't want to dethrone him. So it had to be a female and it had to not be a girl with a hidden agenda. I have gone through many litters, testing and watching for just that gal. One girl was a very close maybe but in the end showed that she was a bit too big for her britches for this pack.
Another puppy and another breeder was an almost, but the puppy was sold out from under us as we were discussing temperament and such. Moving on. Then there was a beautiful puppy that was offered to us but in the end the owner choice to keep her and that has been an amazing match itself. So after several years and scores of litters we finally found her as you have all seen. Is it a match made in heaven? I'll have to ask the gang; but she's about as close to "special order" as we could get.