Monday, March 02, 2009

You Better Look Away--I'm Warning You

Here's how my dog fostering goes down: On Saturday I excitedly complete my chores so I am ready to head out to Petsmart around 12:45 to drop off my foster dog at the adoption event. At these events I am surrounded by other dog lovers--my peeps, as I have come to think of them. Are some of the men wearing tank tops tucked into light, high-waisted jeans? Yes. Do all of the women brush their hair? No. What's it to you? LEAVE US ALONE!

I usually look at all the dogs and imagine which one I will bring home later that day. I also loiter and hope people will ask questions about my foster dogs that only I know the answer to. Thirty minutes of this is the absolute maximum I allow myself. If I let myself stay all day, I don't feel good inside. I don't know--It's a little desperate, don't you think?

I go do errands, live my life (I do have one, in spite of how it might sound), and return at 4pm to check out the leftovers. Happily, each dog I have fostered so far has been adopted. I like to think it has something to do with how I care for them that week they spend at my house. But probably not. Someone drove down from San Bernadino to adopt my Border Collies. And my dear Mimi was snatched up by some loving Mexicans. So I brought home a 3 month old pure bred German Shepherd who I named Frances. I thought she had no name, but it occurs to me only now that "Baby Girl" might be her actual name and not just a description. (Stupid name.)

And it is really at this point that you must avert your eyes because if I didn't lose you at "adoption event" or "here's more about my stinking foster dogs" then you really won't be able to look at Frances without falling in love with her. I'm seriously warning you.


















This is the first dog I've fostered that feels like my dog. Christian disappeared with her the first night on a long walk. We love her. When I look at her I feel the way I must have felt when I met my son Ben in the pre-existence. I picture her as a full-grown German Shepherd with a backpack full of Diet Coke walking to and fro with me and doing my bidding. But still, as I type this she's howling in her crate. There's no way around it: puppies are a pain. So if someone wonderful adopts her I'll be happy. Or I'll run out of the store with her and shove her in my car and drive away.

14 comments:

  1. Oh, darn, and I was hoping you'd adopt calm Mimi!

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  2. So are you saying you're a German Shepherd person, or is it just this one?

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  3. We've never wanted a pet, but I fear once Josh hears about the diet coke in a backpack, he may reconsider. What a great use of a pet!

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  4. Oh, how freaking cute! You HAVE to keep this one, since you let the Border Collies go. (foolish...) You have to keep her just so I can see pictures of her growing up, then grown, toting around beverages...

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  5. those eyes! you must you MUST adopt her. sigh.

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  6. I'm not a German Shephard type - don't they all grow up to be mean?

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  7. No, but they do have a tendency towards hip problems.

    (I grew up with German shepherds.)

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  8. Still laughing about Diet Coke in a backpack.

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  9. That dog looks cute even to me. That's saying something.

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  10. I admit it: I didn't heed the warning and I looked - but I couldn't help thinking, "what in sam hill is wrong with that dog's ear???" Then I realized it was just a little bit of movie magic making his tail blend straight in to his ear. So it's not really a deformed dog w/ one long ear and one short ear - just a funny camera angle. But regardless, I thought he'd still be cute even as a mutant puppy...

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  11. Ok on light refreshments served you said you love lots of comments, so though I have read your blog but never commented, here is my gift to you today. A comment.
    I will never own a dog but this one is cute. It would never be a temptation for me though as I can only take care of so many living things!!

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  12. ah puppy! She's so cute!!

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  13. haha to explain, i posted about wanted a puppy on my blog, and someone sent me to your blog. and now i love your blog, and your dogs, BUT I STILL WANT A PUPPY. This puppy is too cute.

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  14. I work with your sister Erin (and love her by the way). I'm definitely a dog person and LOVE the bigger breeds like German Shepherds, but since Jon & Kate adopted 2 of them, they've seemed to have lost some of their sparkle...I don't know...maybe if J&K still had yellow teeth and flabby bellies...

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