the 1st shelter

After my girlfriend (now wife) came back we'd visited a few rescue groups at an few adoption fairs. We'd found mostly smaller dogs. None who fit the big dog in a small package image I have. At one fair we were told they had the prefect dog for us named Jack. He was at another fair in Mountainview, which was across the bay from Fremont. So we drove across the bridge, somw how finding the only traffic jam on this Saturday, to meet him. Sadly we didn't click. He was a nervous high strung dog. Not the calm older dog I wanted. Also he entirely failed to bond with me in any way. Certainly not small enough to have that much energy in my condo with no backyard.

At that same fair I gave my girlfriend a scare. There was this beautiful lab-pit mix. As my girl would relate, it was love at 1st sight like out of some cartoon. She could almost see the hearts in my eyes. Then Roxy barked. The poor dog managed to combine the worst parts of volume and pitch for a bark. My mind flashed to an image of her spending all day barking at the chow on the other side of the fence. Needless to say I wisely elected not to get a dog that day.

After my experiences with rescue groups I decided that the dogs I really wanted weren't going to be there. For example good lab in the Bay Area is only at a shelter for a matter of days. I hit the sites online and checked out the local rescue groups and shelters. The types of dog I wanted were there, but they moved fast. Thinking this would be easy I mapped out a route 3 shelters each with 2-3 dogs that I liked as of Friday night.

My girlfriend had a small group meeting with people from the UU church. So I decided to hit San Jose Animal Services at 10:30. I knew I was in trouble when I walked in the door. A family was just walking out with a lab. A quick check of the kennels, and I realized it was the one I'd seen online. I shrugged then found the cocker (Nixie) I'd seen online, and I bonded for 10 minutes with her though the bars. Then I went to fill out the require paper work and get my name on the list for an adoption counselor. I finished it, and went to say hi to Nixie again. She was gone. I glimpsed her through the window of a meet and greet room. "Damn bastards that's my dog!"

It was 11:00 Brenna still wasn't there (not that I expected her for an hour), and Nixie had walked out the door with her new owners. The place opens at 10:00, and an hour later it's nothing pits, chis, and small terriers. At around 11:05 my name is called, and I ask if they have any other dogs. The answer is no, but they have some strays that will be put up in a few days. The young lady recognizes me from last Sunday (when I scouted the shelter), and offers to let me in to see the strays. I demure as the last thing I want is to meet another dog, bond, and not end up adopting him.

My girlfriend gets out of small group, and calls me. I'm fairly depressed. I've miscalculated. The good dogs are flying out of the shelters like hot cakes. We're not going to get to the next shelter before 12, and by now everything worth adopting already adopted. We meet up at a boba shop. She is determine to soldier on. I'm blue enough over the holidays normally any way. She doesn't want to spend the holidays with "grumpy pants". (While I'm not prone to rapid changes in mood. When I'm down I tend to stay that way for days or weeks.) Luckily after some caffeine, sugar, and TLC I'm ready to go back into the ring.