Sadie would rather throw herself under the fire truck. I adopted her from the Rockingham County SPCA over 6 years ago, thefirst weekend of my senior year at James Madison University. I had been eying a blue heeler on their website for weeks and went to check him out not long after I returned to Harrisonburg (i already had one dog, Cali my pit bull mix, and needed the permission from my landlord and blessings of my roommates before adopting dog #2). when I pulled up to the shelter a volunteer was walking the heeler I had come to see! in my minds eye he was already mine. imagine my surprise when I found myself immediately turned off. totally uninterested. he was pulling, well to be honest dragging this volunteer around. I watched for a few more minutes, sympathetic to the walker as I understood the struggle of 'walking' a high energy, stimuli seeking, focused on anything but me dog. hello cali. granted he required more exercise, training, and socialization than a shelter environment generally provides, but his complete disinterest in the handler sealed the no go deal for me. I took a deep breath, shifted gears and decided to go in the shelter to nose around, pet the dogs, and maybe walk a few. immediately I go to the adult kennel area, always a sucker for the underdog, looking for the oldest been there longest least likely to be adopted dog. every dog was special and sweet but nothing spoke to me. leaving the shelter my friend and I pass the puppy room. uninterested in a puppy I walk past but Matt ducks in through the door. what's the harm, puppies need loving too. I pull a U turn and follow him. I don't remember seeing one puppy that day, my eyes locked on a small adult dog with the coat of a black and white speckled egg surrounded by a dozen or so dog toys of all shapes sizes and colors. it appeared she was sitting on a cloud... fluff from the not so stuffed anymore toys. I think she might have been trying to kill a squeaky toy. this spunky snarky leary of me in a street sense kind of way dog had landed in the puppy room due to her size.....and I was sold! she was turned in as a stray and I just had to have her. outside she was attentive and froliced at my feet, didn't stray far when offeash in the court yard. after a meet and greet with Cali I filled out an adoption application. before leaving I told this little dog she was wanted and I was going to make sure the rest of her life would be in my care.
what does this have to do with fire trucks?! I'll never tell! jk, I'm getting there
Cute :) Is he a dachshund mix?
ReplyDeleteYes! I always get mini dalmatian...
ReplyDeleteHelpful for Mini Firefighters, I suppose. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love the spots and the cute, short legs.
Sadie would rather throw herself under the fire truck. I adopted her from the Rockingham County SPCA over 6 years ago, thefirst weekend of my senior year at James Madison University. I had been eying a blue heeler on their website for weeks and went to check him out not long after I returned to Harrisonburg (i already had one dog, Cali my pit bull mix, and needed the permission from my landlord and blessings of my roommates before adopting dog #2). when I pulled up to the shelter a volunteer was walking the heeler I had come to see! in my minds eye he was already mine. imagine my surprise when I found myself immediately turned off. totally uninterested. he was pulling, well to be honest dragging this volunteer around. I watched for a few more minutes, sympathetic to the walker as I understood the struggle of 'walking' a high energy, stimuli seeking, focused on anything but me dog. hello cali. granted he required more exercise, training, and socialization than a shelter environment generally provides, but his complete disinterest in the handler sealed the no go deal for me. I took a deep breath, shifted gears and decided to go in the shelter to nose around, pet the dogs, and maybe walk a few. immediately I go to the adult kennel area, always a sucker for the underdog, looking for the oldest been there longest least likely to be adopted dog. every dog was special and sweet but nothing spoke to me. leaving the shelter my friend and I pass the puppy room. uninterested in a puppy I walk past but Matt ducks in through the door. what's the harm, puppies need loving too. I pull a U turn and follow him. I don't remember seeing one puppy that day, my eyes locked on a small adult dog with the coat of a black and white speckled egg surrounded by a dozen or so dog toys of all shapes sizes and colors. it appeared she was sitting on a cloud... fluff from the not so stuffed anymore toys. I think she might have been trying to kill a squeaky toy. this spunky snarky leary of me in a street sense kind of way dog had landed in the puppy room due to her size.....and I was sold! she was turned in as a stray and I just had to have her. outside she was attentive and froliced at my feet, didn't stray far when offeash in the court yard. after a meet and greet with Cali I filled out an adoption application. before leaving I told this little dog she was wanted and I was going to make sure the rest of her life would be in my care.
ReplyDeletewhat does this have to do with fire trucks?! I'll never tell! jk, I'm getting there
Wonderful story! I have always admired all that you do with and for animals. Are you still fostering any?
ReplyDeleteValerie