Beware of Dog


Too much time in front of the computer? Learning too many new technologies in your spare time? I, too, had these problems, and had just started working through a pretty good Python tutorial. Then my wife and I adopted a dog...



So much for Python. Or email. Or this blog, for that matter. Doggie craves attention.

As a stray, we can only guess at her age and heritage, but we think she's about three years old and mostly Australian Shepherd. Fortunately for us, she seems to be a fairly mellow Aussie that was raised as a companion animal; a full-blown working Aussie would kill us with her exercise demands. As it is, this one is getting me into shape!

We found her at Petfinder.com, which gave us a brief description of her personality and a few photos. Petfinder.com allows animal shelters to upload this information and gives potential adopters a way to search for nearby critters. We emailed the shelter with information about our home situation, what we'd be able to provide in terms of exercise and attention, and a few questions about the dog's temperament. That evening we received a response that assured us that we wanted to meet the mutt. A few days later, our adoption application was approved and we drove down to meet her.

The kennel area was crowded and extremely loud, with more than a dozen dogs barking for attention, including our Aussie. My wife and I went to her, and instantly she quit barking and rubbed up against the front door of the cage where we could pet her. She licked our fingers and looked up at us through one blue eye and one brown. Not a bad first impression.

After a little time in the shelter's exercise yard, my wife and I decided that we could make this work. The dog must've thought so, too: leading her back on a leash from the exercise yard, she jumped up against the side of our van. Whether that was just coincidence or her sense of smell telling her it was our van I guess we'll never know, but we took it as a good sign.

That was that. They microchipped her, we filled out some minor paperwork, paid the adoption fee (with a small donation to the shelter), and took our new best friend home with us. We have a little to teach her, and she has a lot to teach us, but we're learning, and giving her ridiculous amounts of attention.

The computer that helped us find her, not so much.

Posted: Thu - April 28, 2005 at 09:30 AM          

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