MinPinMoments

Our quest to find a puppy related to Twinkie was underway. Research had been successfully completed and a letter to the breeder was en route to Oklahoma.
The wait began. “Will today be the day we receive news from the breeder?”
I wondered every time I opened the mailbox, listened to phone messages, and
checked email.

Days, then weeks, passed and soon we were well into the festive month of December.
Although we were still anxious to hear from the breeder, our thoughts were also
preoccupied on an upcoming vacation. Back in the summer, Bob and I had planned a
trip to Ft. Lauderdale for the holidays to avoid being home for our first Christmas
without Twinkie. We were excited about getting away and looking forward to enjoying
some well deserved time at the beach.

While in Florida, I regularly checked my email only to be disappointed and hoped
that there would be news waiting for us at home. Returning from our trip with just
a couple of days left in December, we learned that no news had arrived in our absence.
By this point in time, over a month had passed since we mailed the letter to the
breeder. The puppy search was no longer an all-consuming thought as I went through
mail and messages.

On New Year’s Day I was checking my email and noticed a sender who was not familiar.
The subject line read Miniature Pinscher! Could this finally be the news we had been waiting for? Opening the email, I read the message once and quickly read it a second
time. I could not believe what I was reading! Bob was in another room and heard me shrieking with delight. I yelled for him to come and listen to the amazing news. I excitedly filled him in and read the message to him several times. Rather than tell
you the wonderful news you can read it for yourself:

Hello Lori, Robert Capaccio, This letter needs some introducing. I am S.B., Ms. T’s cousin. She wanted me to get in touch with you. We have her dog Fireball’s boy. Right at the moment, he has three girls and is expecting some in February. We also have some of his relatives. That has a special sweetness! The girls will be 8 wks on February 10th. If you’d like I could email you some pictures of them. I’d be glad to help you find one of Twinkie’s family that you’d like. We had Fireball’s daughter, Rosie. We lost her to old age. She was the first min-pin we ever had. So this is the reason we have min-pins. They are extra special to us.

Thank you,

S B

Bob and I were overjoyed that our dream had become a reality. The search was over.
We had found our puppy!

The loss of Twinkie created a huge void in my life. My best friend was no longer
by my side. Tears came easily and frequently during those first few weeks. Although
I felt numb with an unspeakable grief, I went to work every day pretending as if
everything was ok. As an elementary school teacher my days were busy and filled with
classroom activities. I think it was more difficult to be home because there was a
painful emptiness throughout our house and reminders of Twinkie everywhere. Time
passed as days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Winter ended and spring began.

Several months after Twinkie’s passing, my husband, Bob, tentatively brought up the
subject of getting another dog someday. I immediately vetoed the idea, stating that
I could not go through the loss of another dog. Allowing another dog into our home
and hearts also felt like a betrayal to Twinkie. Every once in a while, Bob would
bring up the subject again, but I always had the same response, “No”.

As more time passed I began to feel as if I was being unfair to Bob. If he felt that
a dog completed our family and brought joy into our lives who was I to deny him? In
October of that year, we were on a weekend getaway when I told Bob that I had changed
my mind about getting a dog and that I had an amazing idea. Whenever Bob spoke of
getting another dog he would say that he wanted a dog just like Twinkie. What if we
could actually find such a dog? What if we were able to get a dog related to Twinkie?
The rest of the weekend was consumed with thoughts of a getting a puppy related to Twinkie.

Earlier apprehension of getting another dog changed to excitement at the possibility
of having a dog with Twinkie’s bloodline. We were not in an immediate rush to begin
our search since we figured that the following summer would be the best time to welcome
a puppy into our home. In late November, I began researching Twinkie’s background.
Twinkie had been purchased at a pet shop (prior to our learning about puppy mills), but
the name of the broker and breeder appeared on a certificate that accompanied the sales
receipt. Over fourteen years had passed since Bob had purchased Twinkie and I did not
know if the broker or breeder were still in business. Hoping to have a puppy the following
summer, I needed to try to track down the breeder. If I was unable to locate the breeder we
would not be able to have a dog related to Twinkie. On the certificate, along with the
breeder’s name, was her city and state. Googling the breeder’s name I found an address
that included the street name. But was it accurate?

The last week of November I mailed the breeder the following letter:

November 23, 2007

Sincerely,
Lori & Robert Capaccio

Our letter was mailed with high hopes that we would soon receive news from the dog breeder in Oklahoma. Thoughts of having a Min Pin related to Twinkie filled us with anticipation, but we tried to remain realistic. After all, Twinkie had been bred about fifteen years earlier. Many questions circulated through our minds. Was the breeder still in business? Did she still breed Miniature Pinschers? If so, most importantly, were any of her Min Pins related to our precious Twinkie?

  Summer 2001 :  Cross-Country Road Trip to California

Moab, Utah

Grand Canyon, AZ

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA

Land’s End Park
San Francisco, CA

Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, CA

Summer 2002

California

Boating on Lake Tahoe

Hike to Lake Aloha

Lake Aloha, CA

Mammoth Mt., CA

Cave Exploration
Pinnacles National Monument, CA

Santa Monica, CA

Summer 2003  Upstate NY & New England

Lake Placid, NY

Seaplane Moose Tour
Moosehead Lake, Maine

Water taxi to Mt. Kineo
Moosehead Lake, Maine

Rock Climbing at Otter Cliffs
Acadia National Park, Maine

Summer 2004

California

Malibu, CA

Coronado Island
San Diego, CA

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Sequoia National Park, CA

Yosemite National Park, CA

Mammoth Mt., CA

Emerald Bay
Lake Tahoe, CA

Lake Tahoe, CA

Lake Shasta, CA

Window Shopping
Carmel, CA

Mt. Mitchell, N.C.

Lake Tahoe Wedding
July 2, 2001

Our adventures with Twinkie expanded in 2001 when we took a road trip across the United States to California, the destination we had chosen for our wedding.  We spent five weeks biking, hiking, and camping throughout the Golden State and experienced the best vacation ever.

California was like a magnet, drawing us back again the following summer.   For this trip we flew, wanting to spend every possible moment of our five week trip on the west coast.  Revisiting favorite places that we had discovered the previous summer, we could not believe that we were back in California!

Airplane to San Francisco
June 2002

Over the next few years we traveled all over the country, vacationing in New England, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and our favorite state, California.  Twinkie was always a perfect traveler, enjoying the adventures that came with each new location.  She was very excited when we incorporated boating and fishing expeditions into our trips.

Lake Tahoe, CA
Summer 2001

Lake Tahoe, CA
Summer 2001

Castaic Lake, CA
Summer 2002

Castaic Lake, CA
Summer 2004

Our trips with Twinkie created wonderful memories that will live in my heart forever.  Twinkie running on a beach in Northern California, soaking up the sun at Dog Beach in San Diego, going nose to nose with a bear in Lake Placid, NY (ok, the bear was stuffed),  having an Easter egg hunt on a beach in the Florida Keys,  are just a few of many experiences that I will always cherish.

One of my favorite vacation memories does not involve a specific location, but driving to  new destinations during the predawn hours. I would be at the wheel, with Twinkie on Bob’s lap in the passenger seat.  During those quiet hours on dark, open highways they would sleep while I drove on and the sun slowly rose into the sky.  Thinking back to those times always brings me a sense of peace and happiness.

Boulder Field
Hickory Run State Park, PA

If Twinkie had a middle name it would have been Adventure.  She loved the outdoors and was an active participant in all of our camping, hiking, biking, boating and fishing trips.  Twinkie would brim with excitement as she observed us preparing for any of these activities.

High Point State Park, NJ

Boating
Mullica River, NJ

If I had to name a favorite, fresh water fishing was probably at the top of Twinkie’s list.  Driving to the lake with our boat in tow, Twinkie seemed to know exactly where we were going.  As we arrived at the lake and unloaded the boat, she could barely contain herself.   Out on the lake everyone in a one mile radius would know each time a fish was caught because Twinkie’s shrieks would fill the air!