Our new dog, Betsy

It's official, we've finally adopted a dog. She's about 2 years old, a hound mix, with 2 bundles of energy and a bit of a bad habit to whine which she picked up copying all the other dogs at the shelter. Hopefully we'll be able to train that out of her because she's picked up a lot of other things we've taught her even in the last 14 hours, like sitting, not jumping on people and staying off the furniture (although she tries to sneak past you on that last one).

She's a pretty curious little dog (about 30 lbs.) and ferocious with her toys. Out of all the toys we bought for her, she's demolished everything except for the indestructible pig which she doesn't like as much because, go figure, it's indestructible. Anyhow, we've finally made good on our goal to adopt a dog, and the people we worked with, "Pets Without Parents" were easygoing and prompt with paperwork, most importantly not selling the dog out from underneath us.

I will be removing the "Daily Puppy" and replacing it with a weather application if I can find one, since that is a useful tool to have during this time of year.

Doggies!

We're headed over to another pet adoption place tonight and the ball is rolling on new paperwork. Amanda found some new dog options, two of which we're headed to look at tonight. First though, you have to see the picture of this adorable little beagle/chihuahua mix. Of course, that's a bit smaller than we wanted, so it's not really an option for us, but if you want, it's still waiting for a home.

So the two dogs we are going to look at tonight are pretty similar in a few ways. Both have interesting names, "Keegan" and "Betsy Boop", but who says naming your dog has to be boring? Both are about the same size, cost, colors, and health status. Now we just have to see them and interact with them to see whether or not they actually fit for us.

Of course, this is a no-kill shelter, which is nice, but still means that we're not really saving a puppy from being put down. However, we are looking at adopting a dog without a home, and that's a really good feeling for me. Time will tell how much work will go into having a pet and whether or not we were totally ready for it. But I think all the preparation in the world still can't leave you fully prepared for the unknown. We are ready enough, financially stable and this is a nice/fun step for us in our relationship as well.

Pet Shelters - Part II

I could've also titled this "Why We Won't Adopt from Franklin County Animal Shelter", but then this would've seemed like what it really is. After the caring and second chances that we gave to the animals and volunteers at the Franklin County Animal Shelter, they turned around and stabbed us in the back.

On Thursday night, Amanda and I went on a date to the county shelter and had a negative experience that I had thought we salvaged into a future for a return visit for a specific dog we've had our eyes on. Well, check out her webpage today, noticing that she is "adopted" and it's not by us. Even though we filled out an application for Desiree on Thursday night and weren't allowed to put her on hold because she was in observation for zoonotic parasites, they gave her away last night to someone else who came in off the street and picked her out of a lineup of cages.

We called in this morning and there's really nothing that the shelter can say to fix things for us. We were told that the dog wouldn't be ready until last night or this morning and last night wasn't really a good option for us. Assuming that our application for the dog would be respected, we called in today to find out that the "adoption" tag wasn't for us but for someone else. It's disappointing and a huge let-down. It takes a lot to get worked up for a big move like adopting a dog, and we were ready today. The crash afterward was a bit difficult, but mostly because I was so angry with them for giving the dog away. It's not like we can take her back from a good home now, but I'm still angry about it.

Needless to say, we won't be returning there, just as I predicted. We don't have time to waste with incompetence and insensitivity or lack of responsibility and follow-through. We're moving on, looking for more dogs, so if you have any suggestions, I'm open.

Pet Shelters - Part I

Amanda drove over 2 hours to the Franklin County Animal Shelter last night. I drove over and hour. The weather was terrible but we had emailed ahead about the dog and indicated we would be near closing and wanted to see a specific dog. They never noted any of that.

While I was still lost and sliding on the road, Amanda was already in an altercation with a piss-poor volunteer who refused to even acknowledge our attempts to support their efforts and the animals with simple cordiality. I don't care how bad your day is, you don't treat me and my wife that way.

Once I arrived, I went back in, bringing Amanda with me. I bypassed the malcontent and addressed an older, heavy man behind the security glass. He informed me that we were too late and we could only see the dog within its cage. That's better than nothing, but then he found out that our dog was diagnosed with a zoonotic disease over a week prior and that we couldn't see her. Both the fact that the place restricted access to animals at a certain time of day, and the fact that the dog we specifically inquired about was not visitable would have been great things to include in the response email. Terrible "customer" service wouldn't begin to describe the shameful atmosphere we endured, all in the name of love for stray animals.

If you were getting paid to adopt a dog, I might recommend this shelter right now. Unfortunately, this is where we found a dog we were interested in. Thus, this is where we have to return if we want to see this dog again. If this dog is out, you will probably not see me there ever again. Other shelters treat people better and I'd rather support their efforts.