When we moved to the city I was bound and determined to adopt a dog. Our apartment had a two pet limit so I had to sweet talk the staff into letting me adopt a dog(we already have two cats). It took about a week, but they finally caved in. Strangely when the apartment staff asked what kind of a dog I was looking at I suggested a basset hound, but didn't really think I would find one.
Eric and I only intended to adopt from a shelter or pound as we are strongly against breeding when the pet population crisis is so real.
Anyway, when I found out that we could adopt a dog I figured that we would go to the pound at 8am and leave the pound at 8:11am with a dog. Our only real stipulation was that the dog is non-aggressive toward cats. Imagine my surprise when days and even a week went by without finding the dog for us to adopt. Finally we were in one shelter when a woman approached us out of nowhere and said that we looked like basset hound people. Huh? I didn't know there was a look.
She told us that there was a pound several miles away with a beautiful basset hound. She was still on hold in case someone claimed her. The woman had her name on the top of the waiting list, but she didn't think that the basset would be the right fit for her family. She gave us her phone number (so she could adopt the dog for us if there were other people on the waiting list) and directions to the pound.
We drove out to the pound and saw her, below.
We were in love. She was so beautiful and sweet and everything I had imagined when I daydreamed about getting a dog.
We didn't really feel comfortable with having the woman adopt her for us if other people were on the waiting list. So, we went to the front desk just to see how long the list was. There was only the woman. So we put our names on the list and prayed that nobody would claim her before her two weeks were up.
We visited with her pretty much every day in advance except on Sundays because they were closed. Finally the two weeks were up, but she still needed to be spayed. We had to wait another week! Let me tell you my head nearly exploded when I heard we had to wait even longer.
The day we could finally take her home the staff at the pound called, very excited. We hustled over to get her. It was the best feeling in the world to liberate our dog from the pound.
We took her home where she promptly got sick from her surgery. Poor thing. It took a while, but we adjusted to the new addition to our family.
I know most people think a dog is a dog, but this dog meant so much to me. She helped some wounds heal from a very sad loss of my dog Coco and then my childhood dog Chloe. Eric and I both had to adjust to a new level of responsibility. If you don't already have a dog I highly recommend it!
Bumblebee!
7 comments:
I haven't seen that photo of her in the kennel in so long. Wow, that brings back some memories! Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Oh, I just love that story.
Our dog Odin is from the pound too.
Happy 3 years Bumblebee.
Bumblebee is the only dog I've ever been exited to meet, one day I will.
What a sweet story! We're planning on getting a pound doggie once our little girl is a little older, so she can better understand it's a *real* living animal, you know, so she doesn't put crayons up his nose or something like that!
so sweet!
I LOVE that adoption story. :) We have 3 adopted dogs, and I love them all so much.
Hey, you left a comment on my semi-defunct art site "springs and wells" a week or two ago... I've had your site bookmarked since then.
Your question was about "audience" and that you had found it more Congesting to the creative process to think about audience. My experience with that particular series of paintings (the world leaders from their childhood photographs) was very different from previous creative experiences. In that instance, I really had a specific message I wanted to communicate about empathy, human commonality, and complexity... From that message came the idea, medium, format for that series. I had to figure out how to communicate my message in a way that people would hear it and appreciate it. I think that's what I meant by considering the audience in a new way.
does that make sense?
it's fun to "meet" another dog-loving artsy vegan!!
:) amey
This warmed the cockles of my heart. I adopted a pup in January and can related to much of what you say. It is wonderful nkowing that we have the ability to affect an animal's life so profoundly. Brava for adopting and good luck to you and Bumblebee!
Awesomeness!
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