Making Choices
1. She is not tan. She is a beautiful reddish, coppery color.
2. She is not a puppy, but around 5 years old.
3. She will not be ours forever.
The first 2 discoveries were "Oh, really?" moments. The third discovery made me take a deep breath, and then I smiled warmly.
The pup is a lover, not a fighter. She stares at you with the deepest look of love and when you put her in a warm soapy tub her eyes close just a little and you feel like her personal masseuse.
If only I can get my cats to behave so beautifully.
And at 10.8 pounds she is smaller than even my smallest cat, and you best believe those cats make sure she knows it.
When they come near her she crouches low and she is submissive. And she is at her happiest when she hears the neighbors' dogs barking, yapping and rolling around in the homes and yards that neighbor ours.
In the 2 days since she has been at our home, this is what else I know about her...
She loves cheese. String cheese the most. She doesn't like cat food, and she eats slowly. She eats like a bird and when people come near she turns around in circles to show her excitement.
She laps her water loudly. Well, compared to the felines anyway.
She will let you pick and prod her, put a collar on her and she won't bark or fidget while you do it.
She makes the cutest noises when she is doggie-dreaming and even snores a little. Like right now.
And she must be really tuckered out after the last several days. She saw the light, almost went into the light, and then got pulled from the light to be thrown into an obscure animal hospital. And the day she came to our home 4 cats mad-dogged her and she was made to eat cat food because her stupid foster parents forgot to buy her appropriate food. Get with the program, people.
And the day after that, just as she began to enjoy "real" dog food and settle into a sleeping pattern her foster mom took her to the vet's office. And the vet prodded her some more and took her temperature. Do you know what vets do to take a doggie's temperature? Just don't ask her, I think she still feels a bit violated.
And after several exams and a few needles, a couple droplets, and a few precautionary prescriptions, she is here resting her weary body.
And oooph. The way her body is reacting to it all? Well, just don't ask me about it. My nose still feels a bit violated.
And soon, very soon, she will go to a permanent home. A home where she will speak in doggie whispers with another canine. And while I will tear up just a little when it happens, I know it is right. Just as I knew it was right to ask my husband to turn the truck around, I feel in my heart that this is right.
A year ago we were in a similar situation with a cat. And while we cross lots of stray animals in our path, sometimes you just get a feeling about one that you have to help. And a beautiful grey cat came our way and while he was a sweet kitty, we knew he belonged somewhere else. And we took him to the vet and got him all spruced up, and then gave him away to a good home.
And I cried when we parted, but in doing so I opened up my heart to the possibility of rescuing another animal at another time- and here we are today.
And once this beautiful, copper-colored, snoring doggie is welcomed into her permanent home, we will begin the process again of keeping an open-mind and heart to the moment when we just know that we have to rescue another
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