A New Dog

Yep. you read that right! Mom and Dad are actively searching for a new friend for me.

It all started last Saturday. Mom and Dad went to the County Animal Services to scope things out. Mom said it was so awful. She could feel all of the sadness, anxiety, and neediness pouring off of the “inmates”. There were 6 rows of dogs in the big dog room – where they started. They looked at each dog, not really stopping for more than a moment by each. When they got to the 5th row, Mom saw an older female pit bull. She knelt down, their eyes met and Mom burst into tears. She told Dad that she could hear Khia in her head saying, “Take her….she’s the one!” As adamant as Dad was about not adopting an older dog, he showed interest and they took her to the play room.

“Molly” was in rough shape. She was found as a stray and has had puppies. She was filthy and had gnats swarming her girly bits. Her bottom canine teeth were broken and she had obvious cavities in each of her large lower molars. As Mom and Dad are still trying to recover from the hit to their bank account from Mya and Khia’s last illnesses, her teeth were a major cause for concern. “Molly” was super smart though. She knew the commands sit, paw, down, and roll over. Just like my Khia. She gave Mom and Dad lots of kisses, she let them rub her belly, and she jumped in each of their laps. The employee that was helping Mom and Dad said they would speak with the vet staff on Monday to find out roughly how old she was, if her dental care was something that had to be done right away, etc. One of the things she was able to find out right away was that “Molly” showed some aggression towards other dogs in play group. Mom and Dad didn’t write her off though because they realize that a shelter is not an appropriate place to judge a dog’s personality. If all went well with the vet staff exam, they were going to arrange a sleep over (that’s really what it’s called) so that we could meet. Mom refused to put me in the car and take me down there. She explained that I have enough car anxiety without going to the shelter.

                                                                                       “Molly”

In the meantime, Mom and Dad decided to go to the small/medium dog room. Here, they each fell in love with a younger dog. Of course, because it’s my Mom and Dad, it wasn’t the same dog. That would be too easy. Dad fell for a bully mix named “Ashley” and Mom fell for what looked like a mini golden retriever named “Sarah”.

“Ashley” was the first to come out to play. Mom and Dad agreed that she was perfect as far as behavior as she was very submissive. That is important because I am a grouch when I first meet other dogs. If the other dog is aggressive too, it’ll be a disaster. “Ashley” also knew how to sit and lay down. She was a stray that had demodex mange but most of her fur has grown back. She also seems to have something going on with her right eye because it’s a little squinty. Mom and Dad disagree about how old she is – Dad says she’s a year or older and Mom declares she’s 6 months. Mom said to Dad, “She still has a puppy wimper!!!!” Duh, Dad! BOL! There are 2 things Mom didn’t like about Ashley: if she is only 6 months old, Mom thinks she’s going to be HUGE. The other thing, she has fur EXACTLY like Khia’s: 1/2″ long, orange, needles! Yes, Mom called Khia’s fur needles because they get stuck in everything and literally poked you so hard it hurt. I think “Ashley” looks just like Khia except instead of pink, she has a black nose, black-rimmed eyes, and black lips.

                                                                                     “Ashley”

According to Mom, “Sarah” looks just like the dog of Mom’s dreams. She a bit larger than me (still the perfect size for Mom’s liking) and has fabulously spunky ears. Unfortunately, there are 2 problems with “Sarah”: 1) she’s a spit fire – Mom isn’t sure if that’s her true nature or just because she’s locked in a tiny kennel, 2) she was brought in as a voluntary surrender because her owner went to jail. It’s possible that “Sarah” will be reclaimed within the next 10 days. If not, she’s available for adoption.

                                                                                      “Sarah”

In the end, Mom and Dad left and decided to just wait to hear about “Molly”.

Well, on Monday, Mom got a call from the nice woman who helped them on Saturday. According to the vet staff (not actual vets, just their staff) “Molly” is approximately 5-6 years old. Her teeth don’t need to be pulled or tended to right away because no pulp is visible. All good right? No. “Molly” is heartworm positive. As much as Mom and Dad would love to pull her out and take care of her, there isn’t an extra $50-60/month left in the budget to provide the medicine she would need. Don’t worry though. Her diagnosis isn’t a death sentence. There were plenty of other heartworm positive dogs there who are being treated.

So, Mom and Dad are going to go to a few of the other shelters around the area this coming Friday. Mom keeps assuring Dad that when the perfect imperfect dog meant for them comes along, they will both agree!

Please keep “Molly”, “Ashley”, “Sarah”, and all of the other dogs in shelters/rescues in your prayers.

Love and *Ear Licks*,

Noodle