For over a year now, Alex and I have talked about wanting a dog. We've looked at the local shelters and even went to the horrible PetLand store and played with the puppies there just so we could play with puppies. We really didn't have a particular breed in mind or even that our dog had to be a puppy. We just wanted a dog! And we knew, deep down, that we would definitely get one from a shelter or rescue.
So, the time came when we were able to finally buy our own home and we realized that this was our time to finally get our dog too. Now, we did have some criteria in looking. Whatever dog we chose had to be friendly, playful, outgoing, have some energy but so much that he bowled either of us over and, above all, he had to get along with our cats. We have two cats and their comfort and acceptance of this dog and he or she of them was the most important factor.
The first dog we considered was a terrier/staffy mix at the local shelter named Mr. Wiggles. This dog was so sweet. Big and energetic and so friendly. He loved us and was well trained. He was a top contender for a long time but, unfortunately for him, we met him just before we could actually move into our house so we weren't able to adopt him. He did get adopted though! Just not by us.
I kept looking and found a rescue online on Facebook called JR's Pups and Stuff. This rescue doesn't have a shelter but rather does everything by foster home. I signed up there and hoped for the best. I also signed up at TinyPaws Rescue and we looked at another local shelter. While we waiting, we moved. Then, finally, JR's called! We had a "home visit" via FaceTime which was more of an interview really. The representative asked us a lot of what we knew about dogs and our home and who we used as a vet etc. That night we were notified that they had accepted us as approved adopters and we were free to check out all the dogs they had available. Oh my gosh, there were so many! Big, little, young, old....they have hundreds of dogs brought from all over the country from high kill shelters and puppy mills. We found four that we liked. Two, Sweetie and Midnight, were a full grown bonded pair and we would have gladly taken them both in. But the foster mother never responded to our inquiry so we moved on. The other two were puppies from a litter brought up from the southern US. The pups were all named after Mammals and the two we wanted to see were called Giraffe and Cow! Ha! Well, it took about 30 seconds to know that Giraffe was the one. He snuggled under my chin and made sweet little grunts and gave me puppy kisses. He rolled over and had Alex rub his little pink belly too. We were in love. We told the foster he was the one! Since he is only 6 and 1/2 weeks old we have to wait to bring him home. He still has to stay with him mama for a while longer. On the way home we decided that a face that serious needed a serious name and he was christened Leonard.
The next two weeks are going to be the slowest two weeks ever, I just know it. I wish he was here right now! I feel like a little girl waiting for Christmas to come. A really great Christmas...where you get a puppy from Santa!
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