I had not had a dog in eighteen years.
I walked into the house to see the end of the midday news, just in time for The Pet of the Week. There she was on the news desk, a reddish-blonde puppy ~ with blue eyes. I had not had a dog in eighteen years! I had perfectly wonderful and very dog-like Abyssinian cats who filled the need for a dog nicely and did NOT have to go potty outside when it was sleeting. She was downtown at the Detroit branch of The Michigan Humane Society. I had the urge to go down and see her. I figured that could be cured by taking my sweet time. If I dawdled surely such a darling pup would be long gone by the time I got there.
She was not even back from the studio (oh, swell) when I arrived at the shelter, they were having too much fun playing with her. It was a first come, first served deal - IF you qualified. I began the paperwork. I was the first to arrive, though there had been many phone calls about her. At one point, my head down and writing, someone sidled up to me, opened their coat, and out popped her beautiful head. Oh, no. They took her back to the puppy room. I finished my application and was taken back to meet her while they called my vet, etc. I was reminded why I purposely stay away from looking. Cages with too old pups frantic for some exercise and attention. There she was - her cage tag said "Taffy" and "Husky/Aussie". They unlocked the cage and gave her to me and I went into a small room to test drive her. I held her upside-down. Limp. Good. I set her on the ground and sort of clapped and stomped my feet. She went into a bow and got excited. I picked her right up and turned her upside down again. She went limp and relaxed right away.
People had begun arriving to see her, the ones who had called. They were peering into the room, hands cupped around their eyes. I started to feel guilty. I did not NEED a dog. All of that WORK, expense. I walked out of the room with her in my arms and a woman said, "I need her - my son's birthday is tomorrow!" She offered to slip me cash to give the pup up to her. There were others, looking disappointed. Could they do better by this precious puppy than I?
After being grilled by one of the employees they deemed me worthy of adopting this little girl pup. It was Friday April 6, 2007. "What do you mean I can't take her until next week?" So she stayed, and on that Monday was spayed, tattooed, and microchipped. On April 10th I went back and picked up my very uncomfortable puppy, put her in a cat carrier, and came home.
First I had to stop at my friend's place of business to show her off. Here we are, that first day. She is standing on the counter and I am putting on her new cat collar with bell. More about that in another post.
