Puppy Update

Well...we soul searched like crazy over Maya, and we just decided that with our lifestyle and the size of our condo, we were not the right family for her. And, it was the right thing to do; today the shelter contacted us and said a volunteer there was interested in adopting her. I have a feeling that by us putting her "on hold" (which means if someone else wanted her, they'd nudge us to make up our minds, but it wouldn't keep her from getting adopted) the volunteer had an "Oh, crap! I think I want her!" revelation. I e-mailed the case worker and said we were thrilled that Maya was on her way to a real home and to let us know if it went through. I have a feeling it will.

Meanwhile, a friend of ours tipped us off to a yorkie-poo that belonged to a high school pal of hers. She'd seen her friend's post on Facebook, got her info, told her we might be interested and even brought her own dog up to our local so we could get a feel for the breed.

Tonight, we arranged to meet with the friend and her dog, who we'll call K. K is a mixed breed pup, fifteen months old. He looked like a white Benji instead of a yorkie-poo. Considering that she told us she'd got him from a shelter (puppy mill) that has since been shut down, I think they lied about his breed. Not that we're breed snobs, but we were expecting small.

To summarize our half hour with K and his owner...one long bark. K hated us. He hated our house. He hated how we smelled. He hated our hands that were tentatively extended for sniffing purposes. He hated our faces, which he intently barked at. Loudly. He basically gave us the finger, insulted our mothers, threatened our heritage, cursed our loins and then flipped us off again.

He loved his family. He circled them, suspicious of why they'd made this trip. He barked and looked around and barked some more. And then barked. You know, because barking was accomplishing so much.

I gently said that we could tell that he loved them very much. Her oldest daughter started to cry. It broke my heart because she knew that this was bad...she didn't want to give up her dog, but she didn't want to take him home, either, because they just couldn't keep him. I patted her foot (we were sitting on the floor) and said, "It's all going to turn out fine."

The Mom offered to come back later this week but Steinvic and I talked and we agree that this dog would not be happy with us. Our dog will have to be comfy with "strangers" and love change. My Mom wants a granddog and hopes to come by and take the pup to her place some days. We have friends and family that come to our house to stay. Most importantly to us, Young Man loves dogs and I want him to have a friend he can cuddle when he visits.

(K was not a cuddler.)

So I will call her and thank her and tell her that we would love to help her out (really, we would) but that we don't feel like it's the right fit. I will wish her luck from us.

And ten minutes after they left (after my big teary eyes because the whole thing was so sad), Steinvic was looking online for puppies. "We need a little one we can raise ourselves."

He is totally right...