Dog Days

Four hours, a 5 pound bag of food, a leash, a collar, pee pads, two chew toys, pepper spray for the furniture and a 25 pound golden fur ball later - we were dog owners.  I'll admit, at first my excitement at having a new puppy faded in and out, often times morphing into a tinge of shock and even disbelief that we actually went through with adopting a dog.  It's one thing to say it over and over again - I would love to have a dog, I wish we could get a dog -  it's an entirely different feeling to actually do it.  The first night I felt like oh crap, no turning back now.  Maybe I felt that way as an effect of cleaning his poop up off the floor, or shoving him off the bed in the middle of the night when he tried to commandeer all the covers.  There's no doubt that owning a dog is a big commitment and not to mention a lot of work; and me being the overly rational person that I am, had a tough time making the plunge.

It was a Thursday afternoon that we decided to go look at dogs at the adoption center.  It wasn't the first time we had done that, in fact we had stopped by the previous day even and something drew us back to look again and little more seriously.  With no exageration, we spent four hours looking at different dogs, taking many of them out to play with, trying to find the one that seemed like a good fit. Picking out a dog is unlike any other process I can think of.  Picking out a dog at an adoption place creates an even greater challenge characterized with uncertainty.  How do you know what the dog will be like in a different environment? How can you really tell their age or who its parents are?  There are so many wonderful dogs that are in need of a home so how do you decide?  Should we get a puppy or a full grown dog?

Then we found Gunner.  We had noticed him in the first few minutes as we circled through the cages filled with puppies and dogs of all shapes and sizes.  I had fixated on an Australian shepherd puppy with dewey eyes and a spunky personality.  We took her out to play and were instantly exposed to her limitless energy and apparent athleticism.  The adoption counselor shied me away from the dog saying she really needed a big yard with lots of space - not a good fit for our apartment dwelling lifestyle.  We spent the next three hours looking at a few older, full grown dogs and a sheltie mix puppy who was anything but interested in figuring out who we were.

Just as we had resigned to leave, deciding that perhaps our dog just wasn't there that day, we went around one more time to look at Gunner.  His fur is smooth and golden, ears flop over framing his almond shaped eyes.  His tail flips up and is dipped in white, matching his four white paws.  We picked him up and took him for a walk.  He trotted alongside us and when we stopped, flipped over so we could rub his belly before rolling onto his stomach and stretching his legs out behind him.  No doubt this dog was a mutt made up of undecided breeds.  After short deliberation, we decided that he was the one.

So Gunner came home with us and it has been two weeks of learning to live life outside a kennel.   I often look at him and wonder what he is thinking.  The first five months of his life were spent in cold and damp pens or cages, most likely minimal human contact and probably not enough exercise.  One day these two people grab him up and take him into their world.  He's scared at new sounds, noises, buildings and experiences but is slowly coming to realize that we are here to help him and give him a good home.   Unsurprisingly, he has taken quickly to the lounging lifestyle of carpeted floor, air conditioning and lots of love and attention.  It's fun and rewarding to watch Gunner look at things for the first time.  When he rolls in the tall grass, wags his tail with delight while vigorously gnawing on a bone, or trots up to me and lays his head in my lap I feel pure joy and happiness that we brought him home that Thursday afternoon.  I'm sure there will be trials and tribulations to go through with Gunner, but we'll take it one dog day at a time.