The Dog Saga.
Jon was joking on the way to the GSP reunion that we run a group home, here at Rodes 2; it was a joke, but it’s funny because it’s true, to a degree. I can’t think of a night in recent memory when less than three (nonresident) friends have at least stopped in to hang out. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and we’ve taken some steps to make this a place where almost anyone can come for a drink, a game of Halo, a kind word: comfort.
It’s gone a bit far and aggravated us at times, too, which is why the rules on the front window point out that the apartment is not a public theater, an open party space or a long-term kennel. Still, there’s a feeling of stability here for a lot of people. This was illustrated late last Thursday night, when Katie and Emily T. found a stray puppy wandering out into the street and the cold. Told by DPS to leave it alone, they instead did what people who find puppies do: they brought it home.
Having already set the precedent of taking care of animals in the short term (turtles and frogs, stray kittens), David and I agreed to house her for the night, check with the neighbors and then take her to the Humane Society the next day. We gave her a towel and some water, put her in the back entry room, waited for her to stop crying and went to sleep.
You’ve probably figured out by now that the dog (there were several names for it, none of which I will use) didn’t go home Friday. Katie hates the Humane Society and so tried to solve the problem by refusing to take it there and then pretending she had no obligation to take care of it. Emily thought Katie was taking it, and by the time I got off work and found Jon and Amanda here, puzzled and playing with the puppy, they’d already closed for the day. We tried the local animal shelter (takes only abused dogs, not strays), vets (don’t take dogs; suggested the pet store) the pet store (don’t take dogs; suggested the vet), and a local nice lady who was rumored to take care of dogs (had her son’s large dog in town and didn’t recommend letting it near a puppy). We did manage to borrow a pet carrier to keep her in from the latter, and Amanda was generous enough to buy some food, and Emily and Kim bought it some chew toys in a roundabout way.
Oh, yes, I forget: the puppy was teething. There are few objects or people in the apartment now that do not bear the scars.
Audrey came over that night like an angel in the, um, night, and though her presence relieved what was fixing to be a really bad weekend, we didn’t have a lot of fun trying to sleep. The puppy was considerably more lonely the second night, for some reason, and made its point vocally.
That night was also party night, for those of us without dogs to take care of, so a fed-up me had more than a little trouble locating anyone to take the (expletive of choice) dog off my hands the next morning. Emily and Kim finally stepped up to the challenge around noon, and took the dog to the Humane Society at last with more than a little weeping involved. (They, coincidentally, slept just fine.)
We weren’t sending it off to guaranteed euthanasia, actually, as Katie seemed to think: we put a found ad in the local paper, and it was an adorable dog, so it’s bound to find a new owner if it doesn’t find its old one. Even if it doesn’t, we left our number to call if its time should run out, and we’ll find it another more willing home.
If this were a Hallmark movie, right around now I’d find it in my heart to love the dog even after its rascally antics, and I’d go rescue it from its pirate kidnappers and it would bite one of them on the butt and we’d all live happily ever after. Meanwhile, in real life, I don’t miss it in the least. I did like the dog, but it wasn’t a responsibility I asked for and it wasn’t something we were prepared to take care of.
Lisa and I had a long conversation tonight, and I think it helped both of us to figure some things out. I won’t go into details, obviously, but I did get to work out for myself part of why I feel the need to throw open my (our) doors to people and animals in need. In a way I am grateful to that dog, because if there’s one thing I won’t be doing again, it’s taking in more stray dogs. I think that’s a healthy thing, especially since I’m still living on a tiny income in college housing.
Now if I could just make myself want to set up rules for stray people, I’d have it made.
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