March 4, 2011
Doggie Diary II
Back home on Monday afternoon, I decided to take a little rest after my long trek over the hill. “Well, I’ve been gone all day,” I thought. “So I’ll just check my email real quick before I lay down.” Nothing there so I decided to look at the Oregon Humans Society’s web site to see if perhaps a cute little ball of fluff came in.
I actually had my hand on the mouse to close out the site as I was quickly scrolling to the bottom of the last page – disappointed but glad to be able to take a little rest. AND …. there she was ! ….. second from the bottom. Suzy. A ball of white fluff with two eyes in there somewhere behind the cute little black nose. My heart started beating faster, my mind racing, trying to figure out if she really was available and now what do I do to get her?
I went back and reread her bio, jotted down her ID number, clicked around the site to find the phone number and called the shelter. Yes she is available, just came in today, there are no holds on her. I decided to go and see her, but the shelter is on the other side of town and now it is rush hour.
Grabbing a very quick bite of early dinner, and refilling my water bottle, I rechecked the directions and got in the car. She was still available when I arrived and she & I had a ‘meet and greet’ in a large private room designed for just that purpose. She was perfect! Since she had not been spayed yet, I couldn’t take her home that day but I could put a non-refundable deposit to hold her until she could go home. I knew that I would change her name since she was going to have a new life . I watched her carefully during our time together and when I called out the name ‘Mercedes’ she stopped her explorations and looked right at me! So that was settled, her name is Mercedes. She is a Bichon Frise which is the breed of dog that the Spanish explorers would take with them on long voyages and they are often pictured in Goya’s paintings of Spanish Royalty. And so my new little doggie has a beautiful Spanish name to go with her beautiful spirit. I immediately paid the additional $15.00 fee and signed the papers and told her that I’d see her the next day. And I left. I was tired when I arrived home.
The next day, Tuesday, I kept my promise and drove the 60 miles to see her again. But she wasn’t in her kennel when I arrived. My Motherly instincts kicked in and I went back to the front desk to find out where she was. She was on a ‘meet and greet’ with another family! I was so upset… She is my dog! They informed me that until she is formally adopted after her surgery that they can still continue to ‘show’ her and can also put two more ‘holds’ on her. When the attendant opened the door to the room that she was in (with the other family!), I said “There she is; that’s her!” Guess who came trotting over to the doorway? Mercedes. Yes, I am sure that she remembered my voice from the day before! She is a very smart dog! I told the attendant “Please tell that family not to get too attached to her. She is my dog and she WILL be going home with ME as soon as she can leave.” That dog was not going to go home with anyone but me!
I waited for the other family to be finished with MY DOG, and then I got to sit with her again and hold her and sing to her and talk to her. We had some more bonding time together and I got a lot of my questions answered. I told her goodby and the next time I’d see her, she would be going home with me. “Now get in your bed and go to sleep, Mercedes. I’ll pick you up on Thursday.” She had surgery scheduled for Wednesday and I would not be able to see her that day as she would need to rest quietly ‘in the back’ that day and night. I could complete the adoption process when I came to get her on Thursday.
