Hufflepuff
Life is pretty good right now. I have a job I like. I'm happy in love. The Boyfriend is going back to school to become a nurse anesthetist assistant in August. We're living together in a beautiful area of town. I'm only minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh, the South Side and am within walking distance of several awesome places on the North Side. I have a great support system in place. I know I have friends, family and loved ones I can count on, depend on and will listen to me when I need them to or will just distract me when I need that.
Life honestly can't get much better.
With everything going so well lately, it only makes sense that the next step the Boyfriend and I want to take is getting a new puppy.
He and I both grew up with dogs so while we love going to the pet store to check out the cute little boys and girls in their windows, we would never really consider purchasing a puppy from a pet store. We want to adopt an orphaned dog.
Our search began at the North Side Western PA Human Society. My heart broke each time we went in and came out. There are so many wonderful animals: cats, dogs and bunnies there that would make wonderful companions and I'd want to take them all home with me so I could enrich my life and theirs.
Unfortunately, I suffer from horrible allergies. Because of it, I decided to limit my breed choices to something like a Yorkie Terrier mix, a Poodle mix or my all time favorite: a Bichon (or a Cavachon if I could find one). My Boyfriend, who grew up with Labs, Great Danes and Beagles, seemed to be quite skeptical at first of how severe my allergies were but after a few bouts of Pet Store Puppy Playing followed by Break Out Hell has come around to realize that its not just me trying to get my way. He was even looking up Poodle mixed breeds for me on his Eris the other night.
Yesterday after I got off work, he and I headed over to McKnight Road's Panera Bread. He asked a few of the girls that worked there if they knew any pet stores in the area where we could go spend a few hours daydreaming about dogs. A lady overheard his questions and told us about Animal Friends on Camp Horne Road. I Google Mapped our way there and was stunned at how nice their facility is.
Lawns are immaculately manicured. There are fountains and sitting areas. There's a pet store inside for treats, collars and other pet accessories. It's clean and even commercial looking in some aspects but is completely run on donations which is just inspiring. Most of the staff are volunteers. They're kind, informative, knowledgeable and attentive to each animal's specific needs. And they're biggest goal is to find loving, safe homes for each one of their current tenants.
As soon as the Boyfriend arrived on property, we were greeted by a sweet lady behind their reception desk. She pointed the way to the dog area and adoption desk. Roaming the halls, you sort of felt as though you were back at school. Every few feet, there was another door and another hall. Each room was filled with animals that had either been found as strays or surrendered by previous owners. Each site, as comfortable as it seemed, was sad because you knew that each animal had its own story to tell and that it wasn't one that was necessarily happy.
As we wondered around, we found 2 Bichons up for adoption. I was elated. Though the dogs were older, I would still be happy to take either of them in to live out their days in happiness.
Unfortunately, we were told that both were found as breeder dogs in a puppy mill and, since we didn't have a dog already, couldn't be adopted out to us. The woman that helped us told us that they had spent 8 years in chicken coops and just really had no idea how to be a dog. They needed an older dog to teach them. Their story was heartbreaking. Not because I couldn't take one of them home but because no animal should have to live like that.
People are assholes.
Two windows later, we found a group of Boxer/Beagle puppies named Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. They were 2 months old and all 4 had big blue "application pending" signs. I didn't care. We asked about Hufflepuff. She was too cute to pass up, regardless of not being "hypoallergenic" her little personality seemed like it might be worth it. Besides, if the first family that showed interest in her didn't follow up then maybe the Boyfriend and I were looking at our new family member.
The woman explained that in order to set up a Meet and Greet with a puppy, we had to first fill out an Application to do so. They were extremely through. They asked about everything from homeownership (which they DO run) to how much money we'd expect to spend a year on a dog to what we'd do if we ever had to give a dog up.
We filled it out, she went over it with us and then took us to a room where we waited to meet Hufflepuff.
I turned to the Boyfriend unconsciously and said, "I'm nervous. Is it weird that I'm sort of nervous."
He laughed, "Why are you nervous?"
"Because it feels like we're being considered a candidate for adopting a baby."
Like I said, they're extremely through.
Our Meet and Greet with Hufflepuff lasted over an hour. We spent a lot of time talking to the woman about different breed types and what to expect from a Boxer/Beagle since I really had no idea. I wish I got her name, she was so helpful and made a lot of recommendations for breeds we should look at for someone like me that needed a "hypo" puppy.
I tried not to get my hopes up but as we left the facility, I couldn't help but wonder "What if?" As we drove back to McKnight, the Boyfriend and I discussed everything from naming options to collar colors to what would happen if the other applicant showed up to claim her. I just said, "Well if its not meant to be, its not meant to be."
When we pulled into Best Buy, he told me that he had a missed call.
It was the shelter.
The previous applicant showed up right after we left to claim her.
Bastards.
Serves me right, really. My left eye blew up like a giant, red balloon 45 minutes later. That was my "it wasn't meant to be" moment of Zen. Thank you, Universe. God, was she cute though.
Meanwhile, back on 6/9, a black and white poodle mini mix was dropped off at the Humane Society as a stray. With being a stray, he's got a 48 hour observation period to go through before he gets run through some behavioral tests, gets vaccinations and medical evaluations. I've been watching this dog like a hawk on their website because I don't want him getting swept away by another family without me even getting the chance to meet him first. I don't know if he's the puppy for me but I still want to meet him.
We stopped by the Humane Society again today to inquire about him since it's been 2 days since he was dropped off. The receptionist told us that he hadn't been given his behavioral yet and thus wasn't on the floor. He wouldn't be until tomorrow, 9/12 in the afternoon.
I left feeling rejected.
They say that this is the season for puppies, which I completely believe. I'm not in a rush and I certainly don't want to make any mistakes. But dammit!! This is getting really frustrating.
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