Meet Sherman

Sherman is the pup that started it all. To get to know him and his role in Nermington's we have to start at the very beginning...

Back in November 2020, I quit drinking cold turkey. I went through a tough season in the beginning. I was depressed and full of anxiety. I didn't fully understand who I was without a drink.

I had been asking for a puppy for some time before a decision to quit drinking. It was my wonderful husband who not only presented me with a Publix cake and the green light to start looking for a puppy.

Side note: if you have never tried a Publix cake, take this as your permission to do so. I promise that you will not regret it. Pinky Promise!

I laid on the couch for probably 2 days watching Schitt's Creek and looking for a puppy. We even went to the Greenville Humane to see if there was anyone there that we could bring home. Unfortunately for us and fortunately for them, at that time, GHS was booked with appointments to see the pups for like 2 months.

I knew I wanted to adopt and I knew I wanted a puppy. So, I started looking on Craigslist. Yes, I was willing to go to that dark side of the internet to adopt a puppy.

One night I came across a listing for pitbull puppies. The photos were only of the puppies and they were so tiny. The listing didn't give much away about the parents. It didn't have much to go off of at all. Like any good human with a sense of curiosity, I reached out.

They replied quickly with a new set of pictures of the puppies. The parents remained a mystery but the puppies were supposed to be 4 and a half weeks old.

That's when I started counting the red flags. Yet, I still had hope that this was legit.

I made time after work for the next day to see the puppies with my husband.

Around noon I get a text with a picture that there were only two puppies left.

I immediately got cash and went to meet the puppies.

When I arrived at the meeting place, which was in a public place just in case you were wondering. A man got out of his car holding two teeny tiny babies.

One boy and one girl.

The man was nice, but of course, as expected, he was also shady.

He sat the puppies down and that sweet baby boy came wobbling towards me. He snuggled into my coat and never left my side. His sister walked the other way.

At that moment I fell in love with this barley could walk, barley-eyed, open baby pup.

I kept asking the man about the parents and he really couldn't answer any of my questions. He only talked about his dog, which he never said was the mother. He said he was going to give me a moment with the puppies, walked over to the passenger side back seat, and started talking to someone. I didn't even know there was someone else in the car until I saw a figure in the backseat. The windows were tinted so I couldn't even tell you want they looked like.

Once the man came back, I paid him, kissed his sister goodbye, prayed that her forever home was coming soon and filled with love, and got in my car with my new baby boy.

Our first photo! - Taken in the car after adopting Sherman.

On the way home, I could help the feeling that I just bought a stolen puppy. I replayed our conversation in my head repeatedly and came to the same conclusion each time.

Once we got home our little family was complete. 

Hank was a little unsure of this tiny thing I had just brought home but Justin, my husband, was completely smitten with our new addition.

Our first family photo. You can see Hank is happy but concerned.

We took 4 days to find a name for Sherman. It was 3 am, and Sherman was asleep on my chest when he started moving about needing to go potty. I was a little too slow to get up when I felt a warm liquid fill my chest. And this is how the conversation went...

Me: "Oh no! He peed!"

Justin: "Haha, we should name him Peabody, you know like PeeBody."

Me: "I am not naming this dog, PeeBody."

Justin: "Wait! How about Sherman?! Sherman Peabody Salvetti haha"

(if you don't get the joke, there is a movie and TV series called Mr. Peabody and Sherman where the dog, Mr. Peabody, adopts a human boy, Sherman.)

And that my friends, is how Sherman got his name.

Sherman has been since day one, my main man. He has helped me with focusing my energy on keeping him alive, keeping me busy and not thinking about having a drink. He has been there to cuddle on the floor when my anxiety hits the roof and has been my entertainment when I was feeling sad.

And he has no idea that he saved me. 

Bringing Sherman into my life was the push I needed to open my eyes to the world around me. He was the reason I had the courage to bring my dream of helping pets find their forever home into a reality.

Nermington's Pet Boutique is based on a dog saving a human. It is built with the hope that no dog (or cat) is left behind. That saving an animal goes deeper than just adopting a pet because they don't have a home, it's giving someone (or something) a second chance at living their best life.