Saturday, January 10, 2009

The quest for a dog continues

So it turns out the shelter that was giving us the run around ended up adopting the dog we wanted to a different family. :(

We also filled out an application for a basset hound rescue place. Didn't hear back from them for a few days.

Then yesterday we went to the SPCA and looked at the dogs there. The dogs were like 95% pitbulls. We met a really sweet Alaskan Husky dog that was just a little too barky, and also found a nice sweet pitbull-pug(we think) mix that had been given up by their former owner because they were in the military and were transfered overseas. There was also someone else previously interested in that dog, so there's a possibility it will be adopted to that person instead. We filled out an application, but the SPCA requires a letter from our landlord saying we could have dogs, which we didn't have on us. Got home last night and emailed the landlord for a letter, and she hasn't gotten back to us yet.

Meanwhile, this morning the basset hound rescue place called us up for a phone interview. She asked a lot of questions like about how I had gotten my kitties, and she seemed very impressed that all 3 of them were rescues. She also seemed impressed by the food we feed them (Nutro) and the fact that we both work part time so that we are in and out of the house all day.

So we have decided that, for now, we are going to try and see if we can get a basset. It's a lot more expensive than the SPCA ($200 vs. $75) but we get the breed we actually want, and we get to rescue a basset from a life of doom (In fact she was telling us how they just rescued 5 bassets from a puppy mill...awww). They are also more likely to be housetrained and not traumatized, because they are all living in foster homes, and not in a big smelly kennel. We are supposed to call the president of the organization on Tuesday night to find out if our application has been approved. We are still going to get the letter from the landlord in case this goes wrong, but this rescue has tons of bassets, so as long as our application goes through we should be set.

This is turning out to be quite the quest for a dog! Here has been our quest so far:

1) 12/31: Went to a pet store adoption hours, but the humane society never showed up that day. Got lost on the way there
2) 12/31: Went to a small rescue downtown (lots of traffic to get there), but they only had 3 dogs at the time, and they were all huge
3) 1/2: Went to the rescue last week, got lost on the way there as well, called back the shelter 5 times over a week only to have them tell us they had given away the dog yesterday
4) 1/9: went to the SPCA, got SUPER lost on the way there (like we had to turn around twice because we couldn't figure out hot to get onto the street we needed to turn onto. Twice.).
5) 1/10 Had a 45 minute phone interview with the basset rescue place.

Wow we've gotten lost on the way to 3/4 shelters we went to. :)

12 comments:

  1. Perhaps this is a test of your commitment!
    I would recommend against the pug/bulldog pup. I have had and loved many bulldogs but by golly, they have genes that can cause them to do things you would not believe, no matter how they are raised. And pugs, I think, can be pretty aggressive too.

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  2. I have a shiba-inu that's going to be fed-ex'd to you stat.

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  3. Rescue groups often have had a lot of veterinary work done on the dog before you adopt; at better rates than you can get from a vet.

    That $200 may well be cheaper than $75 + Vet bill.

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  4. Gosh, I get so emotionally invested in each dog you describe, I can't imagine what you're going through! Hang in there. I wouldn't have a pit bull for any reason. I think the breed should be allowed to die out naturally - all pit bulls should be sterilized. The shelter where I tried to volunteer in the fall had mostly pit bulls also. You know there has to be a reason...

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  5. Why not check out organizations that train guide dogs. Many dogs don't make it into or through training and are put up for adoption. These dogs are great.

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  6. I would be surprised to find Guide Bassets.

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  7. Yeah and those failed guide dogs have like a 3-4 year waiting list, cause everyone wants one.

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  8. Got a lab/golden mix within a year

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  9. I went through what you're going through for about 3 years until I saw my little blind Shih Tzu on petfinder.com in a shelter 5 hours away in Key Largo. It was the cleanest,nicest shelter I've ever seen, and they charged me just $10. Vet bills haven't been huge, but my "little" Shih Tzu has turned out to be too big to "fit under the seat in front of me." So since that day 3 years ago, I've probably driven 30,000 miles between Florida, family, and our home in Mexico. ;) Periodically I search frantically for another perfect home for him (which I am), but as soon as I'm rested from each trip, I can't stand to part with him, my dear buddy, BUT if you didn't have 3 cats, for you I would! ;)

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  10. anon-we don't want to wait a year! also we are looking for a specific sized dog (medium sized, like a beagle or a basset), and not a larger dog like the kind usually used for guide dogs. Really, we want a big dog, but our apartment is a bit too small for a dog that needs a lot of running around. Bassets are known to be really lazy indoors (and run around a lot outdoors), so are perfect for us. :)

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  11. Retired Greyhounds are really couch potatoes but you've gotta be into their looks....

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  12. Another free dog food sample for when you get your pet (which is gonna be soon, I know it!).

    -WG

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