How One Doxie 'Hopped' Into the Lives of a Young Couple At Just the Right Time

By early fall, the window of opportunity would finally be open. And for young physicians Liz Lees and Tyler Kaplan, the timing was incredibly important. So much so that they began their search in January, as to all but ensure they would be able to welcome a puppy into their Rochester, Minnesota home by September, when the midwestern air would still be warm while the leaves began their transformation into autumn radiance. September would also afford the couple access to something they recognized as invaluable in the puppy raising process: quality time at home. 

Liz, an internal medicine doctor, and Tyler, an ophthalmologist, both work and study at the famed Mayo Clinic, leading understandably busy lives in their respective medical fields. But by September, Liz would be starting an online program to receive a Masters of Public Health, and the transition to a remote schedule seemed the perfect opportunity to act on the dream of finding their first puppy together. 

It’s common in the dog-adoption process to not have a specific breed preference going in, and although Liz and Tyler had a clear idea in mind of the kind of puppy they wanted, they weren’t sold on a breed. “I grew up with all different kinds of dogs,” Liz Lees told Good Dog, “but Tyler has never had a pet in his life.” Being a pair of one experienced owner and one newbie led them to set a few simple, reasonable parameters:  “It was important for us to find a puppy that would be calm, easy-going, loving, and not too difficult to train,” said Lees. “We also wanted a dog that would be small enough to live in our apartment and to travel with us.”

They set off to do some field research, visiting acquaintances with dogs to scope out different breeds: A family member’s Husky was great, but a little high maintenance. A friend’s Cavalier was cute, but they weren’t in love. Before long, they met their match. “We decided on a dachshund after meeting our friend’s dachshund and thinking it was the silliest little creature in the world,” recalled Lees. “He made us laugh non-stop, and we were hooked.”

Shortly after their fated Doxie encounter, the couple began communicating with breeders, looking for someone who would have a littler that would align with their September timeline. They began working with someone, and everything seemed to fall into place. The couple were excited about their future puppy, imagining what life would look like come fall. All was going well. Until suddenly, it wasn’t.

“Hi Pamela, My name is Liz, and I wanted to reach out about your newborn dachshund puppies,” began Liz Lees’ first message through Good Dog to dachshund breeder Pamela Bruno. “We have been planning on bringing home a dachshund this September for a while now, but unfortunately the breeder we’ve been working with is now telling us that the pregnancy did not take for our litter.”  

For all of its joys and excitements, goofy moments and fun experiences, getting a dog is still a life-altering decision that carries hefty emotional consequences. Even when the process goes as smoothly as possible, complex feelings can arise, as they might with any major life event. And when things go wrong the pain can be deep, the disappointment crushing. It can be hard to stand up and dust yourself off after falling from the emotional high of envisioning life with a new puppy, but Liz and Tyler had a vision and a timeline, and they were determined to stick to it.

Luckily, Pamela Bruno and her breeding program Little Paws Doxies were right there waiting for them– both through the virtual glow of their Good Dog profile and in reality, just a few states away in Gary, Indiana. A single longhaired cream dachshund– exactly what the young couple had been looking for– was born to a litter just one week before Lees first contacted Bruno in the summer of 2022. Kismet, in the form of a silky-haired, barley-hued, short-legged pup. “We are overjoyed,” Lees told Bruno in July, after finding out her application had been approved. “You can’t imagine how happy and excited we are!”

It was a relief for Liz, after her prior disappointing experience with a breeder, to talk with someone like Bruno. “I knew that it was meant to be when Pamela Bruno responded almost immediately to my message,” Lees said. As the days went by, the two continued to chat through Good Dog. “Pamela sent us updates weekly and took great care to answer our questions in a timely manner. She was 100% professional, transparent, and wonderfully communicative.” 

For Liz and Tyler, finding a puppy through Good Dog was a bit of a family affair. Liz Lees’ parents found their Sheepadoodle, Pippa, through Good Dog, so they were familiar with the process and relieved to have a reliable platform on which to look for a puppy. “Good Dog was a great resource for exploring breeders, and we especially liked being able to see reviews from customers,” Liz remarked. “It was helpful to be able to search and communicate directly with the breeders in one place. When it came time to make a deposit, I felt reassured after reading about Good Dog’s security.” With a deposit safely placed, Liz and Tyler had all but secured their puppy from Little Paws Doxies. “Boy #2 from Joanna x Elijah's litter” would soon be theirs.

Though he wouldn’t stay “Boy #2” for long.

“Thank you so much for making our puppy dream come true!” said Lees in a July 17 message to Pamela Bruno. “ We are going to name him Hopper ... in case you want to get him used to it.”

Hopper, as in the character from Stranger Things, the good-natured police chief of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana– the very real state in which Little Paws Doxies serendipitously operates.

“We'll begin calling him ‘Hopper.’ That's cute!” Bruno enthusiastically replied, making a mental note to refer to the sandy-colored dachshund, who was still barely bigger than the palm of her hand, by his new name. 

Pamela Bruno fell in love with dachshunds after getting one for her son as a birthday gift. He’d been asking for years, and by fulfilling his wish, she unknowingly opened up a door to her future career and passion. Life at Little Paws Doxies is overflowing with a familial kinship that extends to every puppy born under their care. Bruno’s six adult children and their children all live at home, creating an environment where three generations of dog-lovers are available day in and day out to snuggle and spoil the puppies. 

A typical day at Little Paws Doxies begins at a time most would consider the middle of the night. At 2 o’clock in the morning, Pamela and her crew are awake, rousing sleeping dachshunds from their wrinkled slumbers. In the predawn darkness, moms and puppies alike are coaxed from their soft, fluffy beds, and led towards a breakfast of the “best possible food we can find,” according to Bruno.

As the sun begins to rise, the Little Paws crew carries on with their daily errands. “Pens are made fresh with clean and sanitized bedding, potty pads are changed, the litter box is cleaned, and new fun toys are arranged according to each age group and learning skills,” Bruno described to Good Dog. “The little puppies are weighed each day to ensure proper growth and development.” At the weigh-in, Bruno might stop and snap photos and videos of the puppies’ progress to send along to their future owners, something her customers love about working with her. After making  sure everyone is on the right track, playtime commences. “Adult dogs are dispersed among the house to play areas or allowed to tag along with their favorite person,” said Bruno.

That favorite person may very well be Bruno herself, or one of her young grandchildren, who can be found gently– almost expertly– caressing dachshunds of all patterns and colors. This hands-on socialization strategy is surely a joy for the children, but also carries great benefits for the puppies. When Bruno cheekily refers to her dogs as being “pre-spoiled,” she’s actually describing a valuable step in establishing desired temperaments in puppies. When the young doxies are cuddling with the kids, tagging along with the adults, or playing with the Bruno’s two house cats, they are learning crucial skills that will help them succeed in their future forever homes.

Bruno has an intrinsic understanding of what her dachshunds mean to their future owners, even before they ever meet. Her love for her breed is a driving force in approving applicants and helping to match them with their perfect puppy. She has an ability to spot future owners who will be as loving and devoted to her dogs as she is, a quality she identified right away in Lees and Kaplan.  “We could see that they would be the perfect match for Hopper's new family,” Bruno recalled.

Knowing how excited the young couple was to meet their new boy, Bruno was sure to keep them in the loop as Hopper grew and began to develop his distinctive identity. “Thank you for these photos,” Lees told Bruno after receiving pictures of Hopper at three weeks old. “We look forward to them more than you can imagine.” Curious to know if Hopper was going to be the “calm, easy-going” puppy they had hoped for, Lees asked Bruno for a temperament update. “Does he have a personality yet or mostly just sleeping?” she asked. “He's mostly sleeping, but starting to get around some. He seems to be laid back and sweet, so far. Perfect!” Bruno replied.

“I know it must be a lot of work for the Bruno family,” Lees said, but receiving consistent photos “allowed us to see our puppy growing up in the first few weeks and get used to things like eating solid kibble, playing with his litter mates, and playing with toys. It is obvious that he was getting his puppy enrichment!"

Some days at Little Paws Doxies see the Brunos inviting families into their home to meet their future puppies, and on others they are coordinating with flight nannies or getting behind the wheel themselves to deliver the grown-enough dachshunds to their new homes. On the day Lees and Kaplan were to meet Hopper, the Brunos did the latter. 

“Most new puppy families prefer to come to our home to meet their new babies,” Bruno said. “We also offer to meet new families up to an hour from our home to help them with any long travel times they may have.” Bruno’s daughter Sarah, her husband, and their children are typically the ones who make the deliveries and meet the new families. “They spoil them during the whole travel time!” Bruno confessed. “Hopper was delivered by my daughter and her family.”

“We planned to travel to Chicago to pick up Hopper,” Lees recalled. “The Bruno family was kind enough to drive from Indiana and meet us there. Pamela made the morning extra special by calling to let me know Hopper was on his way, and she sent photos of him being held and hugged by her sweet grandchildren before getting into his crate. It truly felt like they were just as excited as we were for the big transition home. Meeting up was easy, and Little Paws Doxies made ‘gotcha day’ extra special by sending Hopper home with an embroidered baby blanket, some food and toys. We were totally in shock with how small and precious he was! He slept the whole way home, and we never took our eyes off him.”

Things picked up quickly once the little family of three returned to Minnesota, but Hopper settled in beautifully, clicking into place in Lees and Kaplan’s life like a key turning in a lock. Though the two physicians-in-training admittedly “spend a lot of time studying,” the trio find a lot to get up to in the small-but-bustling town of Rochester, which is surrounded by trailheads and green spaces. “We go hiking, biking, running, cook new recipes, and watch sports.” Lees said. “Hopper has learned to enjoy all of those hobbies as well! He does pretty much everything with us…even grocery shopping every Sunday.” 

Bringing home a new puppy can be nerve-wracking even for the seasoned pro, so as a novice pet owner, Tyler Kaplan especially appreciated the smooth transition. He “wasn't sure what to expect,” Lees reflected, continuing, “The funniest thing was that he seriously worried whether our dog would like him!” That fear was assuaged mere minutes after Tyler met Hopper for the first time. 

“I saw Tyler holding Hopper and looking at him like a dad looks at a brand new baby,” Lees recounted. “Now, they are inseparable from the minute Tyler gets home from work every night. During the day, Hopper even tries to get me to walk towards the hospital to visit Tyler. I think there is something very special about that bond between a person and his or her first dog.” 

Not only has Hopper fit seamlessly into the Lees’ life, he’s made a name for himself in the community of Rochester at large. “It’s a smaller town, and Hopper is kind of a local celebrity whenever we walk him around,” joked Lees. “We especially like to walk him to the Mayo Clinic campus where he can get pets from patients and staff. It’s great socialization for him to be around so many different people. More than once, I've had someone tell me that it made their day. One day he even made it on the local news after visiting the clinic!”

Liz Lees is adamant that Hopper is a people puppy. “We joke that Hopper has more of a social life than either of us. He loves every person he meets,” she said. “Especially kiddos, because he spent a lot of time with children!” All of Hopper’s foundational moments with Pamela Bruno’s adoring grandchildren have carried over into his life in Rochester, and have been a source of delight for his new parents. “My favorite thing is seeing how happy people are to see him,” Lees confessed. “It’s hard not to smile when he is coming your way.”

Lees can’t help but notice how people gravitate naturally to Hopper. Strangers get pulled into his charming orbit and stay there, until they become friends. “I wish someone had told me that having a puppy is a great way to meet people!” Lees remarked. “Being in a small town, I have made more friends just by having people come up to talk to Hopper.” Lees described the way Hopper has helped her and Tyler connect with their neighbors in their apartment building– one friendship grew so strong that the neighbor even gifted Hopper a handmade quilt. Lees also appreciates the way Hopper so often allows her to interact with people she might not otherwise have a reason to, remembering a time when her and Tyler sat for an hour talking with an older couple who wanted to pet the happy dachshund that was hopping by. 

If Rochester is Hopper’s stage, the walk to the Mayo Clinic is his spotlight. “When he knows we are going downtown, he sees this as his time to socialize,” Lees said. “He makes us stop and for every single person to pet him and acknowledge him.” And in what she described as “classic, stubborn, dachshund fashion,” Lees admitted how often Hopper “throws a little tantrum when we turn around to go home. He digs in his paws and refuses to walk that direction!” Once home though, Hopper is back in the limelight, his two biggest fans giving him all of the attention he wants and deserves. 

“We may be biased,” Liz Lees admitted, “but we think Hopper has been the greatest puppy in the world. He is always ready to give us love in the form of licks and snuggles. He has been easy to train, and he is every bit as silly as expected.” 

Hopper has come a long way from the summer afternoons he spent growing into the world at Little Paws Doxies under the loving care of Pamela Bruno. His life has expanded, stretched out like a dog waking up from an afternoon nap. In his orbit revolve loving parents, adoring fans, and delighted strangers. But he is never far from his roots, which comes as no surprise to Liz Lees and Tyler Kaplan. The impression Bruno made on the couple, and the way in which her dedication to her program and to her dogs helped them to fulfill a dream at just the right time in their lives could never be forgotten.  “We still keep in touch via the Little Paws Doxies Family Facebook page, and I follow Hopper’s siblings on other social media,” Lees said. 

In the middle of fall last year, after Hopper had been home for around a month, Lees left a message on Bruno’s Good Dog profile. It read, “If you are thinking you need a doxie puppy in your life, this is your sign. Little Paws Doxies will not let you down, and you are about to embark on the sweetest, most fun and exciting adventure! I envy you.” 

Right now, your future dachshund puppy could be sleeping in the arms of a child in Indiana, or waking up before the sunrise to spend a quiet morning with their littermates, unknowingly waiting for the day someone like you will enter their life. If you've been thinking about bringing a puppy into your life, your Hopper might just be a Good Dog search away. Liz, Tyler, and all new puppy parents everywhere will be envying you, and the amazing experience you’re about to embark on.