Today after church, Job and I headed off to the Oregon Humane Society to look at dogs. I became interested in obtaining a pooch a while back. Crazy, right? Like I don't have enough on my hands as it is. So I asked for "permission" to get one for Christmas. Job, more or less, said "Yes." So finally, we were able to go out and "look" as a family. And although the Humane Society was full of dogs (or seemed to be), we really didn't see any one pooch that made us stop and "ooh and ahhh". So we trundled along, and took the kids to another No-Kill, smaller dog shelter in Clackamas. The format was a bit different there, as you look through a photo album and then tell the employee which dog you'd like to see in person. We--okay, I--picked a roly poly lab mix named Perry. I liked Perry a lot. He was only 8 weeks, and pretty timid and shivering at first. Then I held him a lot, and he calmed down and seemed to melt in my arms. Vasi threw a toy at the poor puppy. Susy, upon having the little pooch brought within arm-reach, softly reached for Perry's little head and gave him some nice pats. It was so sweet.
But Job didn't seem too interested in holding Perry. In fact, aside from V.'s half-hearted attempt to play with him, and Susy sweet gesture, no one else seemed too thrilled to make friends with the dog. Perry felt like a sweet, chubby baby in my arms, which made me feel like I was betreaying Susy somehow. Hehehe. Don't I already have a chubby infant to care for?
I noticed that some fellow puppy-hunters in the shelter lobby were eyeing Perry. They were a sweet young married couple; very kind newlyweds who were looking for their first "baby." :) They timidly asked if they could hold Perry... and given my own family's lack of enthusiasm, I politely obliged.
Not long afterwards, they asked if they could adopt Perry (they wanted to make sure we weren't about to adopt him). I was actually very happy for them, and for the cute little puppy who was obviously going to be treated like a prince as their new baby. hehehe.
On the way home, I resolved that our family probably isn't ready for a dog. It's kind of bittersweet, because as much as I *want* one, it obviously isn't in God's timing and I sort of have to do the "responsible adult" thing, which is do what's best for my (largely uninterested and quite young and inexperienced) family.
Who knows, maybe my perfect little bassett hound will come along one of these days, potty trained, young, well-mannered and... free. :D hehehe. In the meantime, I'll remain the ever-dutiful mother of two beautiful humans.
4 comments:
if you decide to look again, if i were you i would look for a little bit of an older dog (though they are harder to find without too much baggage) that is already housebroken. i was so glad i didn't have to deal with that with our dog. you already have enough bottoms to look after. :)
I'm so glad Perry found a good home! I feel that way about rabbits...love them! And that's part of the reason I didn't want to get a dog. This summer, though a family we know from church was moving and needed to find a new home for their dog. It was a perfect solution for us (however my husband was the one harping for a dog), she was already trained, well-behaved and sweet...just 2 years old. I hope some pooch just falls into your lap at God's will!
you know Styliani/Adrienne has bassett hounds, right?
Well, your were supposed to get a Corgi so I could have one vicariously through you, but I guess I understand ;). Someday you and I will have dogs...maybe when the kids are grown ;).
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