GETTING READY

Nic and Ruby, our two younger dogs.

March 6


Our five dogs don't know yet that we are planning to expand the pack. I wonder what they would think if they did know. Little Joanne is supposed to be eight months old, just a few weeks older than our youngest, the retriever mix Ruby. Nic, the purebred Pointer, is a year older than that. Then Wally is about 4, Trouble about 5, and Chase about 6. 


Nic and Ruby are a bonded pair - they play all day and lounge around together. Trouble, the blue heeler, is close to Chase the hound mix, though she is most interested in squirrels, and he is most interested in what anyone might throw and he might catch. Wally, our other Pointer, is interested in birds, lizards, and sleeping on the couch with Gary. He has the best relationship with Trouble, though he also plays and hunts with Nic and Ruby. We figure that Ruby will not be friendly at first, but that the new dog will probably end up being a threesome with her and Nic.


That is, if we keep her. When I filed the adoption application, I just wanted the little dog not to die in the shelter after surviving a house fire and losing her family. I wasn't thinking too clearly about whether we really needed to add another dog to the family. After I sent in the application, rescuers who know me on Facebook reached out, offering help in adopting her out, or getting her accepted into Pointer Rescue Organization, assuming that my plan is to foster her. I am somewhat relieved. Although I am certain it was right to save her life, I am not at all sure that it is fair to my other dogs to take on another one. After all, I only have one lap.


Being a foster rather than an adopter also makes sense if we really want to make a difference for homeless dogs. After all, if we foster Joanne and then find her a home, we will be able to save other dogs from death row and make a more significant difference.


Now I tell Gary that if she doesn't work out for us, we do have options. He doesn't seem convinced. 


"Of course we're going to keep her," he says.


So today, while we are out on a project, I get a call from Greenville. It's Lauren, the person who originally answered my emails at the shelter. She wants to know if I am still planning to pick up Joanne tomorrow.


"Yes, of course," I reply.


"Because there is someone from a rescue group who says she's taking her."


"What? No. We're coming tomorrow," I say. 


"Well, I guess there was something on Facebook. There was a lot of talk . . . people on Facebook are crazy."


"We're coming tomorrow," I say. "You open at noon, right?"


"That's right."


"We'll get there as close to noon as we can," I say, and we hang up.


Afterwards, I wonder if I should have just let the rescue group take the dog, since I am not positive that bringing her home is really going to be the right thing for everyone, when there is an option. But another part of me really, really wants her.