* Name change alert. I felt Nyla didn't fit her so she has been
officially renamed Ellie *
These past few weeks, the Hubby and I have been itching for a dog. We thought it would be easy to find the perfect canine addition to our family but we had a few road blocks. It was really hard to decide on size and breed. Since we live in an apartment with only a patio, we decided on a small to medium dog. When we have a bigger place and a yard (oh the luxury of having a yard) we would like to get a collie, blue heeler, or shetland sheepdog. We adored a Schipperke and Shiba Inu (first time seeing and actually playing with the breeds) at a pet store but since we were fairly certain they were from a mill and the cost being the equivalent of a car's down payment, we decided to adopt. Also, I am mildly allergic to some dogs so only certain breeds were in the running. Our work was cut out for us!
We had visited a few shelters but was excited for the Petsmart's Holiday Adoption Event that was this past weekend.
FRIDAY
I was sooo psyched that I was up bright and early to get there when the stores opened.
We arrived at one Petsmart and found...nothing :( No puppies, no dogs, no cats, no rabbits...nothing. I found out that they weren't setting up until 11 AM - the event was supposed to start at 9 AM! We didn't want to hang around for so long so we went to the next Petsmart and they only had one agency up with ONE dog - a huge St. Bernard. He wouldn't be able to turn around in our place.
Hubby had to go to work soon so we decided to head back home for some lunch. We live right next to an animal shelter so we thought we'd swing in and see if they had any new pups (we go at least once a week). We spotted a cutie (named Jenna) and she was so affectionate when I pet her through the bars that we asked to visit with her. I really liked her and she was a poodle mix so I didn't think I'd be allergic but I wanted to wait until my dad, a dog trainer, could come check her out.
We went home and when my dad told me he couldn't make it out I was bummed. I was even more bummed ( I think I cried) when I called the shelter to see if I could put her on hold and they told me someone had already done so. Mind you, only about an hour had gone by. I was holding on to the thought that they might not adopt her but the shelter has a good turnaround with adopting dogs out :(
SATURDAY
We repeated the previous morning but called the Petsmarts ahead of time to make sure that they were participating in the adoption weekend and that there were dogs there
right now. They all said
yup and
yup.
1st Petsmart - Got there at 11 AM but they weren't even set up. UGH!
2nd Petsmart - There were no tents outside and the place didn't look very busy. We went inside anyways and found one agency in a corner with ONE adult dog. One, again?! She was super cute but we wanted variety. The agency lady (who was not very friendly and answered our questions with a not so slight 'tude) said that the dog had 8 week old puppies and that her partner was at a Petco a few miles away with them. Excited about seeing some young-ins, we thanked her, gave a last pat to momma doggie, and hopped in the car to venture over there. Guess what we found? NOTHING! A Petco cashier said that the agency was supposed to be there but never showed up, didn't even call. At this point we were seriously annoyed. Hubs kept saying he just wanted to see some darn puppies. We were cracking jokes the whole time and were having fun but we were very disappointed. We assumed that there would be a more apparent effort by all of these OC pet adoption agencies to get the pets adopted out.
We killed some time and grabbed some delicious Krispy Kreme donuts (mmm!) before heading back to the first Petsmart we went to.
Back to 1st Petsmart - It looked like all 4 agencies were set up but only 2 had animals out to visit with. We visited with some pups but none of them caught our eye.
3rd Petsmart - Only 1 agency with some Chi pups and a really cute Cairn Terrier but the agency lady was talking with her coworker and didn't acknowledge our presence. We asked her a couple of questions but then she went right back to talking.
We called it a day after that but not before stopping by the animal shelter again to see if Jenna was still there. AND SHE WAS! It was still early in the day but they said to check back at the end of the day to see if she had been adopted. I called right at closing and they said she had not been adopted and she would be available first thing in the morning.
SUNDAY
My dad came over first thing and we were at the animal shelter 10 mins before they opened. I saw a family with young girls and secretly hoped they didn't want to see the cute poodle mix Jenna. We immediately requested to see her and after a thorough inspection by dad the dog trainer - we adopted her! As we were leaving, we overhead someone else asking to see Jenna. I bet that if we hadn't gotten there first thing, Jenna would've been adopted out today. Of course she would, she's super cute right?
So... meet
Nyla ("Neigh-la," had to rename because Jenna is also the name of my sister in law).P.S. She loves loves loves Nylabones. Ellie (she has been officially renamed Ellie).
She's doesn't have a lick of obedience in her but she's very smart and can
almost sit every 3rd time I ask her. She's a huge cuddler. She's also pretty protective and quite a barker if anyone comes within 10 feet of me or DH (we'll be working on that). Haven't had any allergies around her so that's awesome. DH says that she's a good combo of me and him - low key & mellow like me but also energetic at times and silly like him.
I think she's perfect.
