The New Woman in my Life
Entry posted by FarangFarang ·
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Ked and I added a new family member this weekend. Star came home with us Saturday afternoon.
We had been talking about getting a pet for awhile. She was leaning towards a cat because cats are less trouble to take care of. I was leaning towards a dog because I wanted a pet that had a fun personality.
On Saturday we were out running errands and I decided to swing by the local animal shelter and look at the animals.
The Irvine animal shelter is a very nice place and is definitely set up with the comfort of the animals in mind. Lots of open space to walk the animals. Plenty of private rooms for the dogs and cats to get out and walk around.
The only problem was that we didn't see any animals that we really connected with. All of the animals were at least 2 years old with many pushing 10+ years.
Whoever adopts a pet is sure to be the second or third owner and the animals sort of give off a vibe of knowing they're being shuffled around. In fact, some are on their "3rd Chance" which the shelter says are animals that already went their maximum stay at another shelter and they're on their last chance. If not adopted they'll likely be put to sleep.
Like I said, you sort of got the vibe that the animals somehow knew this. They would just lay there as you walked past. Many wouldn't even acknowledge your presence when you stepped up to their cage and spoke to them.
I saw one dog that I liked but he had a terrible cough. Not a great sign.
We decided to leave and finish running errands. If we changed our minds about any of the animals we saw we could always come back on Sunday.
Next stop was the Irvine Spectrum shopping center. By chance, they have a pet shop so we stopped in "just to look around." It didn't take long before I came across two beagle pups. They were sleeping while all of the other dogs were jumping around like they had had too many cups of coffee.
Ked wasn't impressed. If they couldn't be bothered to wake up, what kind of pet would they make?
We kept looking and happened upon two Jack Russels. The male was like a crack head. He was jumping around, yapping, and just plain so excited by all of the people that he was nearly jumping out of his skin with joy. His sister was a little more subdued so we played with her for a bit.
Ked and I stepped outside and we went through that "So, what do you think?" conversation. She was okay getting the Jack Russel but she thought I should ask to take the beagle out just so I was sure.
When we went back in the shop staff were waking up the beagles and this time around they were playfully fighting each other. As with the Jack's, the male was the aggressive hyper one and the female was the laid back calm one so I asked if we could see the female.
She instantly latched onto to us and buried her head into my shoulder. We set her down and after sniffing out the area the tail was wagging and she was sitting at our feet giving us the puppy eyes.
How can you resist?
She made the sale. I told the shop staff, "This is the one. We'll take her."
While we were getting all of her medical records and such several people walked up to Ked holding the pup and commented how cute she was.
After a few hundred dollars worth of dog accessories (bowls, food, leashes, toys, treats, etc) we were on the way home with our new family member.
At first Ked wanted to name her Pom Pui because she has a little baby belly on her. She quickly changed her mind and we settled on Star when she noticed a star pattern on her back.
Before we went home we stopped by another pet store, PetSmart, which is much larger and had a wider selection. I wanted some books on dog training and such and to pick up a few more things for Star.
Again, people kept walking up to Ked with Star and commenting how cute Star was.
At home, she took her new surroundings one room at a time. She had to smell every square inch of the living room first. She wouldn't cross the boundary between the living room and the kitchen though. After a few hours she felt confident to take a few steps into the kitchen, sniff around, and then retreat back to the living room. Another few hours passed and she had scoped out the entire kitchen and was now exploring parts of the hallway in a similar tentative fashion.
She had her first "accident" on the carpet but surprisingly, after the first time, she started using the pad we set out for her. Though she won't poop there yet. She's like 9 for 10 peeing on the area we set up but 0 for 10 pooping there. She's only 8 weeks so I'll cut her some slack :-)
She's a good dog too. No barking or whining. She's immediately taken to both Ked and I and now we have to watch where we step because she's constantly right on our heels wherever we go.
And she loves watching TV. You turn on the television and she lays down in front of the television and watches. :-)
So that's the newest addition to our family.
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