Not Noah

What a day. Harrison spent last night at Deedee's house, so he wasn't with us when we met Jason & family at the Longbranch for brunch. It was nice to get to see them once more before they headed home, and the great news is, we're hoping everybody will be together again in 4 weeks (weather and work schedules permitting, that is!)

Just as the "Shaffers South" were driving off, we got a call from Deedee that Harrison was ready to come home, so we picked him up and came home to decompress and watch "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Harrison loved it - so much so, that he wanted to watch it again right away. We pursuaded him to watch our new copy of "Wall-E", instead, and Julio decided to run to the mall and get some smoothies for us. As we finished watching the special short feature, "Burn-E", I decided to call the shelter and see if Noah was back from his vacation. He was, and the lady I spoke to said we had a VERY good application, and if we wanted to come see him, we would be allowed to bring him home with us today.

Well, that's all Harrison & I needed to hear! Julio wasn't quite as enthusiastic to learn we could bring a dog home with us today. He was planning on visiting, coming home and mulling it over a little more before making such a big decision. So, on the 45 minute drive over there, we discussed all the added responsibilities of getting a new dog, including cleaning up after him, etc.

We finally found the shop, after first passing it in the dark snowy weather. We had to park across the street in a parking ramp, extending our anticipation even longer. Finally we were in the store and the moment we'd been waiting for since Wednesday seemed about to happen! We approached the lady at the front desk, mildly giddy but trying not to look like crazy people unworthy of dog ownership. We told her we were there to meet Noah, and she got a strange look on her face.

She went on to tell us that she didn't think Noah would be a good fit for us. As we were on our way over, she was reviewing our adoption application and Noah's paperwork. She noticed that the pound where he'd come from had performed a "temperament test", but that their office hadn't conducted one, yet, so while we were on the road, she was conducting their test. Apparently what they do is, they give the dog a toy and when he is interested in the toy, they slip a fake hand by it - Noah failed the test. He growled and then bit the fake hand. They said they didn't think it would be a good idea to bring him to our home, when we have kids Harrison's age there for much of the day.

She said we could still meet him, but that she had some other dogs that she thought would be a better fit for our family. As she led us back to the kennels, my heart sank. How could I explain to this woman that we weren't looking for just any dog - we needed to find our dog - the one we are meant to be with?

We got back there, and Noah was finishing dinner, so she couldn't get him out of his kennel just then. She pointed out a sweet brown dog named Bugsy, but he was part Pit-Bull, and I have a concern that as he got older, he might revert to instinctive behavior, which for his breed is not great around kids. She started telling me about another dog, but I saw the most beautiful golden dog who at first glance looked like a chow, but she turned out to be a one-year-old mixed breed - they think she's part Collie, part Golden Retriever and part Samoyed.

They got her out of her Kennel, and she came straight up to Harrison and me, nuzzled us and kissed us each on the nose. Julio was just getting in from going back to the car for the leash we brought, and when he saw her, his face switched from "we can't be bringing a dog home now - we just got the house cleaned, for crying out loud" to "ok, a kennel, a big bag of premium dog food, a seventeen-dollar hair brush, matching collar and leash - does she need anything else? Let me go get the car ready so she'll have a comfortable ride home!".

In other words, she had him at Hello.

We watched her interact with other animals, and she behaved just like Yuxia would have - a little timid around anything smaller than her, and determined to befriend anybody she could. A cat came strutting up to her, and she nuzzled the cat and gave it a lick on the head.

I was feeling very guilty to love this dog so much, when we were there for Noah, not her. So I asked if we could please see Noah, before we made any decisions. Noah came springing out of his kennel, determined to make for the door and completely uninterested in any of the humans in his wake. His hair was coarse and not pleasant to pet, and he was very hyper to the point of being unpleasant. Go figure.

So we decided Noah's purpose in our life was to lead us to our real dog, much the same way that a small stray black lab opened the door for me to adopt Yuxia...but that's a different (if similar) tale.

Family and friends, meet our new pack member: Sugar (Azucar, or Zuki for short)

(PS - Thanks, John, for getting the ball rolling again for us - can't wait to hear about the new pack member destined to join your family soon!)