Saturday, November 26, 2011

Ginger

Two weeks ago, a dog wandered into the Thunderdome at Timpview. The girls coach, Jaimie, felt sorry for the dog and said to Jenna, "Jenna, take this dog home and I'll be by to get her later." Well, later didn't happen and after realizing that the dog didn't have any tags and no way to find its owner, we called Animal Control. We could tell that the dog was well-trained: she sits, shakes, rolls over, so we knew that she'd had an owner and been well-loved. Animal Control took her to the shelter where they found that she'd had a microchip under her skin to identify her owner, but after following all the info on that, they ended up at a dead end.

In the meantime, we were told that if she wasn't claimed by Saturday, that she would go up for adoption. David and I were praying that the owners would be found because we just didn't know if we were ready for a dog. The shelter called us on Wednesday and asked if we were interested in adopting her and I said, "Well, we don't want her to be put down, so if her owners aren't found, then call us." Turns out, what the lady really meant was, "someone else is interested in adopting the dog, so if you want first chance, you need to say so" but she didn't say that.

On Friday, I woke up and knew that I wanted to adopt that dog, so you can imagine my dismay when I called the shelter and they said, "Well, we called you and we have an application from someone else, so you'll have to turn in an application, too, and then we'll give the dog to the best home for her." I hustled down and filled out an application and the next morning, we got the call that we were pet owners!

The dog is a girl who all my girls named Ginger within moments of first finding her. She is a cocker spaniel, super cute. The shelter estimated her age at 8 years, but a trip to the vet put her at 3 years old. The hair on her ears and legs and belly was so matted that the people at Petsmart were nice enough to clip it off her even though she couldn't be completely groomed until 48 hours after her rabies shot. She came out of that experience a completely different-looking dog. Still cute, but SHORT hair. The super plus: she smells so much better!

We are getting used to the new responsibility and adjusting to taking the dog for walks and out to go potty and all the things that go along with a pet. She absolutely loves us and does not want to be alone. She likes to go outside, but she will not explore unless someone from the family is out there with her.

So, I am a pet owner. I can't believe I just wrote that.

6 comments:

Heather said...

I am excited that you guys got a dog and we all can't wait to meet her. I however must find another form of medicine for my allergies. Benadryl makes my nervous go crazy, leg twitching, crazy feelings, tingling in the arms and fingers. Its no good.

kris said...

Heather - I recommend the generic Zyrtec from Costco. It is working great for Alissa, Katie, and I.

Dong Ha said...

I really want to see this dog! I wish we had a dog when i was in utah haha

nate and marne said...

wow, that is so cool. your kids have wanted a pet for so long, i didn't see it in your future! i'm happy that you guys ended up with her, once you knew you wanted her. that is great! we have tried it twice, but the kids were so little and mean to our poor dogs....we decided we would wait for the next time!! :)

Lori said...

She is so adorable! When we first brought our puppy home, I became so nervous about the responsibility that it made me sick to my stomach. I wasn't sure if it was all nerves/stress or something telling me it was not a good decision. Within an hour I had already bonded so much with the puppy that there was no going back. My nervous stomach was all better the next day and it was one of the best decisions for our family. He's been such a joy to us and is my baby now.

kris said...

Thanks for supporting us, guys - it's not all fun and games. Lots of responsibility for me, so I appreciate you sharing that, Lori. I have moments every now and then when I think, "I can't be responsible for this dog - I don't even know what to do!" But my family loves her, so I'm figuring it out!