Puppy hunting

Well, Herbie is not our dog... He is a little more terrier than we would prefer, so we will just hope for him that he finds a happy home with lots of room for the little energetic fella! He is CUTE CUTE CUTE--just not right for us.

So we went on quite an adventure today--puppy hunting. We started at the local humane society. We played with two very cute pups. The first one was named Spunky and he was very cute, but spunky might be an understatement. He was about the right size--no more than 35 pounds, but WOW could that dog jump! He was no taller than my knees, and when he jumped, he caught enough air to be about even with my face. I am still slightly frightened by dogs--mainly because of my unfamiliarity with them--so we don't need a dog who would be too jumpy. So, then we played with Comet and, man, if we had a house with a yard, we might have taken this one home with us. Comet was calm, sweet, smart, didn't bark too much, young enough that we could influence his demeanor, but old enough that he was house trained and not a puppy puppy. But, Comet is a walking tree hound or something like that, and I just don't think it would be fair to keep a dog meant to have lots of time outside locked inside our town house.

So, off we went to the Pet Rescue place... There wasn't a single dog there that caught our eye, so that was a quick trip. Off we were (with a stop in at Burger King) to the next town over--about 30 miles away. There was supposed to be an adoption thing going on at the PetSmart until 5, but when we got there at 4:30, no puppies were to be found. So then we found our way to that county's humane society... About a 15 minute drive at 5 p.m.--not the best planning on our part.

So at this humane society... Well this was my first encounter with what looked like a dog pound to me. There was this huge room with dozens and dozens of large dog pins, and there had to be 30 dogs in this one room. Bear in mind, I am still not 100 percent comfortable with dogs, so when we walked into this compound, the odor of dog pee mixed with the ongoing bark-fest sent me WAY out of my comfort zone. So we walked up and down the aisles as if we were peeking into jail cells. Some of the dogs looked like they wanted to eat me, some paid me no mind, some looked sorta' cute, but none of them really sparked our interest.

So back out into the lobby we went. When we had walked into the lobby, I had noticed a very pretty pup in a cage by the desk, but we headed into the compound (sorry--I didn't get all the chronology right)... So into the lobby again. I want to find out more about the cute little weenie-dog looking pup. The nice lady behind the desk tells us she is about 2 years old, was a stray who had been brought in and wound up needing surgery... When she first got there, the shelter was unable to help her put on weight, so they took her to the vet and she eventually had to have surgery to remove a corn cob from her intestines. Yuck and sad... So now she is healthy. She is a little shy, very sweet, and I am falling in love fast. So NLBTD (I am trying some of the new tricks I have seen in other blogs) takes her out of the cage and lets me play with her on a leash. This pup is GREAT... She wanders around the lobby and sniffs everything, lets me get down on her level and just played. So I am even more in love! This whole time, G is not connecting with her and this causes me great concern. I try to get him to play with her and get to know her as I think this is OUR dog... I look at G for some sign of up or down, and I get a very definite DOWN vote. I am bummed. So we leave.

Once in the car, I, in my usual way, badger G as to why on earth this girl isn't coming home with us. After a little poking and prodding, it turns out G is not interested in this dog for a couple of reasons. He suspects her health is not 100 percent. He is also very bothered by what we call her udders. This sweet little girl must have already had a litter (or two), and mix that with her being a weenie dog and, yeah, the udder thing was a little funky. So I defer to G, as he knows FAR more about dogs than I do, and this little girl isn't coming home with us. Bummer. Damn udders.

I got an e-mail from a rescue group nearby that a basset hound/boxer mix, 1-year-old girl might be right for us. So tomorrow we are going to try to drive out to see her and get a feel for her. I am hopeful.

I am not sure where my desire for a puppy comes from as I am not really a dog person, but I just really feel like G and I need something to nurture and love and that this is something we are supposed to do right now. I hope we aren't being selfish in wanting a dog... I think we will be great dog parents. I also think this will be good training for when we will someday be responsible for a human life. Another added bonus, I DO NOT want my kids to have this freakish dog fear that I have. I know I have this fear only because I am unfamiliar with dogs. If we get a puppy now, this will be the dog with whom our kids grow up. I want my kids to have the joy of a dog... I dunno.

So that about covers it today. I hope this is enjoyable for someone to read! I really enjoy writing it. I know I have only done this like three times now, but I am proud of myself. I really want to continue with this. It really did give me more of a reason to do something worth while today (even though I didn't think about it once all day, I just know it was some motivating factor, somewhere in the depths of my mind). So we shall see. I am loving the comments, btw.

OH! Speaking of that, Lara, of Life: the Ongoing Education, blogged about Lurking. So read her post about it. And if you are lurking here, FIRST let me say that I just think that is awesome that anyone might be reading this. Second, I, too, welcome you and encourage you to make your presence known. I am a big fan of the whole small world thing and making connections. While I have yet to blog about anything worthy of some intellectual debate, I just would love to hear from folks. So, let me know how I am doing at this whole blogging thing. Constructive criticism is always welcome--I do teach journalism writing, so I appreciate editors!

ttfn