My name is Brooke and my boyfriend Tim and I are the proud parents of “timnbrooke’s Emacio” we call him Emo short for Emacio. Can’t really explain the name, except maybe it’s this southern California salsa vibe these two native Texans have. Emo is what people called Emerson Fittapaldi (F1 racecar driver) for short, and you can’t really go wrong with a Fittapaldi. So, we lumped it all together and got Emacio. I think Juan will be my next name - for my driver Juan Pablo Montoya. We don’t just pick up and go to the races lately now that we have Emo. We’ve done it once and I hated the whole boarding kennel thing.

Emo turned 1 year old on April 12, 2000. He has filled the house with energy. It had been 5-6 years since I had a dog and I was going nuts. It was all I could do to be the responsible Mom and wait until everything was perfect for a dog. I started reading about all the AKC breeds in a few books. I would love any animal and I wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible. I don’t think I would have it in me to give up an animal once it had been brought into the family. I was hoping to avoid having our home destroyed or arguments because of wild puppy stress. I decided to read about all the dogs and narrow it down based on our lives. I’ve had too many friends that just leap in, and then want to blame the dog. I just feel that, they should be happy and able to do what they are born to do. If they need lots of work and open areas, then my home wouldn’t be the best place for it. Of course that’s not to say I wouldn’t take in a stray if it needed me. I read each breed and narrowed down the dogs

based on upkeep, amount of exercise needed, barking, able to adapt to new environments well, allergy free as much as can be, etc… It was an overwhelming Whippet match.

I’d never been around a whippet owner, nor can I even say if I had seen one up close. I based it all on the things I read, books, online, wherever I could learn. Then 3 years later, I had my boyfriend convinced, we had a good yard, & we were able to deal with work and a puppy. So we started looking. I contacted Peggy Bush and it took me a little while, but about a year later, we got Emacio. I thought I would want a female based on past experiences potty training other breeds and general training. The breeder I got Emo from told me I would have a harder time getting a female and that in whippets a male might be easier. At this point, I really didn’t care I just wanted a dog. Some days I would wish a stray would come within sight so it could be my new dog.

We live in San Diego and moved here from Dallas, TX 2 ½ years ago. We love it. I have received so much good advise already from this site and it’s only been a week (I think?). I look forward to gaining from others knowledge and just the smiles from the stories. I bore my coworkers with my stories and my gushing over the dog. He’s such a sweet, loving, funny little guy that keeps me laughing all the time.