Yearning for a Teddy Bear

Call them Teddy Bears. It's easier than Bichons...or Shichons. I've been yearning to see one, to hold it, OK, to own one, for three years now, ever since I wrote a story for Country Living and first learned about them.

A cross between a bichon frisee and a shitzu, they're smart, loyal, don't shed, don't yap, and don't have to be walked everyday. Which makes them the perfect dog for seniors in apartments, said the breeder in Nebraska whom I interviewed for the story. How far is it from Atlanta to Nebraska? I was ready to hop into the car right then. 

They're also designer dogs, lap dogs. At eight to fifteen pounds, you could rock over them in a rocking chair. Not at all like  Sparky, Starlight, Suzy or Junior, the family dogs that roamed the neighborhood and the woods behind our house, or Winston, my foster dog. Winston was a cross between a Jack Russell and a birddog, and he kept me on my feet. From him, I learned I couldn't keep up, that maybe I'm in the lap dog stage of my life.

For three years, I poured over ads for teddy bears within driving distance of Atlanta. Just to see one. Then one day, there was the ad in Woodstock, just north of Atlanta. Away I went.

Here are the puppies. They were the first litter for Victoria in Woodstock. She said the parents came from a well-known breeder in Nebraska.  Yes, the lady I interviewed. 

One day. Maybe.