Lately, I've been writing about money saving ideas, BUT I will say, this one is not it. Most of you know the joy, agony and love that our dog Foxy has brought us the last two years. And most of you have witnessed her level of- shall we say- PSCYHONESS and separation anxiety that has caused a lot of drama in our home. For the last two years, we've been hearing the same advice over and over- get another dog. Oh my. This is something I could not even wrap my brain around. NO. WAY. However, lately, the idea seemed to have taken on some merit, and I found myself searching around on the internet "out of curiosity". We all know where curiosity leads... but I digress.
Martin and I found ourselves discussing it more and more often, until all of the sudden- finding ourselves bored on a Saturday afternoon, we decided to head over to the Collin County Animal Shelter- "just to look". (To be fair, I told Martin before hand that 'we both know how this will end'). I had heard that the Collin County Animal Shelters (as well as other local shelters) had been running a summer special on certain adopted animals because of the limited air conditioned space- God help us all, it's summer in Texas. We deluded ourselves into believing that $25 for a vaccinated, fixed, micro-chipped animal would save us SO much money.
So, it took us approximately 30 minutes to head over and be reeled in by a slick talking volunteer.... she listened to our stories about Foxy and immediately had perfect recommendations for a boy dog- that could maybe not be too hyper, and balance things out a bit. She let us check them all out but two or three really stood out as sweet, sweet dogs that would work. Then we saw "Hartford" and he seemed so docile, and shy- I wondered if we had another great little actor on our hands. Turns out we spent some time secluded with him, and he warmed right up to Martin (which kind of surprised me- since he's usually the cat person), and played with the kids, and was so good. Honestly, and truly- a really calm, docile, but still playful, obedient (for the most part) dog. Again- I wondered if it was too good to be true. Since the shelter was closing in ten minutes, we decided to play the system a little, and keep him with us until closing time so no one would snap him up and that way we could mull it over overnight and get the supplies we needed.
We headed to Walmart- got the crate, necessary collar, leash, toys, etc and went home to "discuss" (but please note the order in which those actions were performed). Sunday morning, we jockeyed over to the animal shelter- ready to barrel down anyone who stood in the way of our new dog. We had narrowed the name down to either "Frisco" or "Ranger" (as in Texas Rangers). Once we got there, we decided Ranger, it is.
After some quick paperwork, "Hartford" became "Ranger" and was ours. He walked calmly out the front door with us, hopped into the back of my car, and laid down sweetly in the back hatch area. Martin and I were high fiving and our mouths were about to hit the floor. I kept saying over and over- "Maybe this is how it was SUPPOSED to be the first time"... not that we don't love Foxy, but FOR REAL. This is crazy.
At Petco, I basked in the glow of everyone stopping to tell me what a sweet dog he is... like a proud mama, and I had to agree with them.
Cut to 3 days later, and the transition has gone fairly well. Biggest issues are that the waiting list for fixing is 2 weeks, and being that we have a boy dog, and a (fixed) girl dog- well, you can imagine. Or maybe you can't- but I won't go into that... A few minor "tiffs" over a chew bone, and some basic potty and crate training issues- but all in all not bad. Foxy seems to "tolerate" him, and he LOVES Foxy. She seems a little annoyed that Ranger has rocked her Alpha Dog boat- but it needed to be done. He did scratch my toes the other day with his nails- when he wanted to play; and I'm not entirely sure, but I would say that Foxy- in true form- looked almost smug about it when I let out a yelp (almost as if I'd gotten what I'd deserved). What I HAVE learned is that Foxy is smart, and funny, and really sassy; Ranger is playful, docile and loyal. I appreciate all those qualities, so this works.
So, we enter life as a family of six, and I'm thinking the ratio is perfect.
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