My first listing was a lovely house in a subdivision of West Acres in West Bloomfield (give history of West Acres), originally a subdivision way out in the “boonies”, started in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Chrysler was building a large assembly plant in Highland Park, MI. The plant was quite far from West Acres. The manufacturer solved that by buying a bus to cart workers back and forth each shift from West Acres to Highland Park. (See Google West Acres Subdivision WBMI)

At the edge of the subdivision close to Middle Straits Lake, much later, were built lovely, large Colonials and Tudors. My seller’s house was one of these. Lovely house and family and a big dog problem. The dog wasn’t big but the problem was! Sellers were moving to a beach side California community that didn’t allow dogs. At the first open house, I fell in love with “Clouseau”, the dog, a bichon frisee. We simply bonded. Then I found out that the owners intended to take the dog to the pound when moving, due to CA regulations. Plus, I don’t think Mr. Seller liked the dog. I know the dog did not like him. Woof! Grrrr! Clouseau seemed to like everybody else on earth.

I tried to find another owner for the dog as I had just started my first real estate course and this house was my first listing. Plus, I had almost no money and no time to take care of a dog. I did what every very intelligent mother does: I decided to put it to a vote of myself and my two sons. We were working our way up in pets from gerbils to now dogs. The kids voted “yes”, I voted “yes” and we owned a dog. We took “Clouie” (our once and forever name for him) and adored him for 2 1/2 years. He was the best thing that ever happened to our family. “Lose a husband, replace with a dog”, I always say. We had 28 gerbils at one time. I prayed every night that wouldn’t happen with the dog!

Unfortunately, 2 1/2 years later, the townhouse I rented (I couldn’t quite afford to buy a condo or home) changed hands. A large Boston firm came in and, with a sweep of their hand, eliminated the right to have dogs. We were devastated. Hey, I was a realtor. I could figure this out and put pressure on them. I knew I was in trouble when the manager asked “How many of our 12 Michigan lawyers would you like me to bring in for this?” I knew it was a lost cause.

We all cried and then I thought of Steve, my chiropractor. I knew they were looking for a dog but didn’t want a puppy. I don’t know if Clouie has ESP or what but, the minute Steve sat down, Clouseau leaped into his lap and started licking him. The deal was done! They had Clouie for 8-10 more years and he died. He was old, sick, blind and they were the best family on earth for him. He even wore a rhinestone collar made especially for their son’s bar mitzvah. I missed him horribly but he couldn’t have picked a better family