Weekend of inner discussion

I really don’t enjoy having to do prolonged thought on things. It wears on me. For the past week I have been back and forth about the ideas of a vette purchase. I could make strong arguments for either choice and the mental deadlock was really frustrating. Then Friday night a diversion strolled into our front yard. Just after we got home, I was walking Nicki and we both saw a dark shadow going up our property line and then make a beeline towards us. I knew it was some sort of small animal but couldn’t tell much more than that. I held ground, even though Nicki wanted to bolt. It was a small lab mix puppy. Instantly it was sniffing and licking Nicki, when I went to pet it I got tons of licks too. I told Ali we had yet another stray dog. Not again. This one had a green collar that was way too big and a flea collar that looks like it was sloppily applied. Noone uses flea collars anymore, normally people will use those chemicals that you apply to a dog once a month instead.

We escorted the puppy back to the lanai so we could have a better look. It was mostly black with a little brown on it’s head. It looked all lab in the face but had shorter legs and big huge feet. We were guessing that some mexicans owned the dog and that they left it outside tied up. Of course the idea of a puppy being tied up outside appalled Ali. I wasn’t thrilled with that idea myself. The poor thing has some ticks on it and it’s fur was filled with burrs. We gave it some food and water which it consumed like it hadn’t eaten in days. As hungry as it was, it didn’t affect it’s personality, it was all over us. Nicki is normally terrified of all dogs. For some reason she hit it off with the puppy. Within the first 10 minutes they were playing, chasing each other around and having a grand time. Soon the initial joy we had from watching them play together turned to dismay as the reality hit that we had to come up with a plan. Ali of course wanted to adopt it, throwing all logic to the wind. I immediaitely have to point out that logistically, it is a near impossibility unless she can figure out a way to commute TWO dogs to work every day or if we can magically have Ali stay home from work permanently starting Monday. So as the night wore on we ran scenarios. We had a couple options as I saw it. Try to find the original owner with signs or just take her to domestic animals to see if she is claimed and if not be adopted out.

We spent the rest of the night untill 11 pm or so, outside with the puppy and Nicki, watching them play, watching them hang out together, thinking how fun it would be to have the puppy as well, but saddened by the reality that it is next to impossible to manage. We didn’t want to keep the puppy inside because we had no idea about her health, cleanliness, bugs, potty training, that sort of stuff. I took her out on the leash a few times and she went to the bathroom for me on cue, a good thing. We covered the outside table to shield it from the wind and then setup a puppy bed under it. She laid down on it like a good dog and slept there all night.

I slept like shit. The puppy was the last thing on my mind when I went to sleep and first thing on it when I awoke. I looked outside and she was still spread out on the pillow, sleeping. I was surprised she made no mess on the lanai and instead waited for me to take her out to do her business. Again her and Nicki played a bunch. When Ali awoke we had to decide on a gameplan. We agreed that the best option was to take her to the shelter. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of her going back to her original owner since it seemed apparent that she would be nothing more than a tie out mutt to them. It really was tough taking her to the shelter. She sat on Ali’s lap the entire time like an angel, looking about as innocent as you can imagine. At the shelter I had to do all the talking because Ali was crying the entire time. Once the paperwork was done, I asked for detail about the process. They said they hold them for 5 days to see if owners claim them, then they get evaluated and if everything checks out ok they go up for adoption. I told them that if for some reason she wouldn’t be adopted we wanted to be notified because we wouldn’t let her be put to sleep. They couldn’t give any guarantee but they thought there would be no problem with her adoption. When it was time to go, Ali was borderline hysterical, I was upset too. I didn’t even look at the puppy as we left because I wanted to maintain composure.

The rest of the weekend, I thought about the puppy all the time. Very odd that I got so attached so quickly but it had just about the perfect personality to go along with it’s cute appearance. I was very sad on Saturday, on Sunday I tried to keep busy with work and other stuff to keep my mind off it. Today, I already called the shelter to see if the owners claimed her and to get a clarification on the process. Adopting her is still on my mind but I have not been able to come up with a feasible plan for doing so..

The puppy situation was that slap in the face I needed to divert my attention from a vette. I am sort of half hearted pursuing it at this point. I am not sure why though because I think I already have determined that right now, that money would be better utilized otherwise.