Here's something you might be interested in.
So I decided to get a dog.
As a kid, my older brother and I always hounded my parents for one. But, we had two things going against us.
When we had pet lizards and snakes (which we caught in the canyons of Mira Mesa), they always ended up dying. If we couldn't keep a few tiny reptiles alive, how would we care for a dog? We always replied 'Alpo!'
The other thing we had going against us was a mailman for a dad. The dog is the arch enemy of the letter carrier.
So, we were stuck with goldfish and parakeets for pets. And, when the birds 'play dead'...well, it's like that Monty Python skit. They usually are dead.
As an adult, I figured it was time. A few of my guy friends gave me crap for wanting a tiny dog. I heard the usual taunts you'd expect. My sexual orientation was brought into question. I was asked if I'd carry it around with me in a pink bag. Or if I'd buy cute little shirts for it to wear.
I went to the Helen Woodward Society in Rancho Santa Fe, and loved how they ran things. It was very organized, and the few dogs my girlfriend and I wanted to see, we were quickly able to interact with. And the staff was great at answering questions, and great at screening the people that came there to get animals.
One dog we didn't care for. One we fell in love with. It was a white poodle mix, named Sadie. It had the ugliest face, with bangs hanging over it like a Beatle; which kind of made it cute. And, when it walked around sniffing everything, all the other dogs would be barking and making a lot of noise. It would occasionally look up when something really loud happened. But it wouldn't bark or get startled. It would just pause for a second, assess the situation, and then continue on sniffing the ground. We'd call it over, and sometimes it would saunter over. Other times it wouldn't.
Someone else ended up with the dog while I spent the few days trying to decide.
My girlfriend would call me with different photos she saw online, and I usually didn't like the dogs she thought were cute. I think she just loves every dog she sees. In fact, I'm going to buy her that picture of the dogs playing poker. She might be the only person on the planet that sees that and says "awwwwww".
We drove to a girls house in Santee, who posted on Craigs List. She had just moved back in with her parents, and they already had two dogs and a few cats. She had to get rid of her terrier mix. I thought the dog looked like a scraggly goat. My girlfriend thought it was adorable. But it seemed to hate her. She said, "I think it knew we were there to check it out, that's why."
The girl showing us the dog was nice. As were her parents (I think the mom was a teacher, with a broken arm...I was dying to ask if the dog caused it).
We sent her an email thanking her for her time, but saying the dog didn't seem to receptive to the whole idea.
My girlfriend asked if I wanted a poodle. I said no. But then she had me go to the San Diego Humane Society in Bay Park, and there was a cute one. She said, "If they don't have those goofy haircuts, like you see in the dog shows, they look cute."
When we interacted with it, the thing was jumping non-stop and was spazzing out. We decided against it.
We both agreed that French Bulldogs were cute as hell. They looked like bats, with four legs. But none were popping up in the shelters, and we thought it was best to get a dog that needed a home (Bob Barker would be so proud).
We also like Pugs. Even though we've read they have a lot of breathing and health problems. The few times we went to look at ones, they were snapped up.
I met a guy at the racquetball courts who is married to a woman that's written dog books (One is "Your Adopted Dog"). And he'd tell me how to go about getting a certain breed from a shelter or rescue.
My girlfriend and I started getting nuts about it. I said if we got a French Bulldog, we could name it Gotham if it's black (for the city in Batman). Or Popeye...because they have bug eyes, and because of Popeye Doyle, the main character in The French Connection.
We thought of about 10 names for pugs.
After six months of searching, we found a white maltese we think is cute as a button. We're second on the list to get it. We'll see what happens.
So I decided to get a dog.
As a kid, my older brother and I always hounded my parents for one. But, we had two things going against us.
When we had pet lizards and snakes (which we caught in the canyons of Mira Mesa), they always ended up dying. If we couldn't keep a few tiny reptiles alive, how would we care for a dog? We always replied 'Alpo!'
The other thing we had going against us was a mailman for a dad. The dog is the arch enemy of the letter carrier.
So, we were stuck with goldfish and parakeets for pets. And, when the birds 'play dead'...well, it's like that Monty Python skit. They usually are dead.
As an adult, I figured it was time. A few of my guy friends gave me crap for wanting a tiny dog. I heard the usual taunts you'd expect. My sexual orientation was brought into question. I was asked if I'd carry it around with me in a pink bag. Or if I'd buy cute little shirts for it to wear.
I went to the Helen Woodward Society in Rancho Santa Fe, and loved how they ran things. It was very organized, and the few dogs my girlfriend and I wanted to see, we were quickly able to interact with. And the staff was great at answering questions, and great at screening the people that came there to get animals.
One dog we didn't care for. One we fell in love with. It was a white poodle mix, named Sadie. It had the ugliest face, with bangs hanging over it like a Beatle; which kind of made it cute. And, when it walked around sniffing everything, all the other dogs would be barking and making a lot of noise. It would occasionally look up when something really loud happened. But it wouldn't bark or get startled. It would just pause for a second, assess the situation, and then continue on sniffing the ground. We'd call it over, and sometimes it would saunter over. Other times it wouldn't.
Someone else ended up with the dog while I spent the few days trying to decide.
My girlfriend would call me with different photos she saw online, and I usually didn't like the dogs she thought were cute. I think she just loves every dog she sees. In fact, I'm going to buy her that picture of the dogs playing poker. She might be the only person on the planet that sees that and says "awwwwww".
We drove to a girls house in Santee, who posted on Craigs List. She had just moved back in with her parents, and they already had two dogs and a few cats. She had to get rid of her terrier mix. I thought the dog looked like a scraggly goat. My girlfriend thought it was adorable. But it seemed to hate her. She said, "I think it knew we were there to check it out, that's why."
The girl showing us the dog was nice. As were her parents (I think the mom was a teacher, with a broken arm...I was dying to ask if the dog caused it).
We sent her an email thanking her for her time, but saying the dog didn't seem to receptive to the whole idea.
My girlfriend asked if I wanted a poodle. I said no. But then she had me go to the San Diego Humane Society in Bay Park, and there was a cute one. She said, "If they don't have those goofy haircuts, like you see in the dog shows, they look cute."
When we interacted with it, the thing was jumping non-stop and was spazzing out. We decided against it.
We both agreed that French Bulldogs were cute as hell. They looked like bats, with four legs. But none were popping up in the shelters, and we thought it was best to get a dog that needed a home (Bob Barker would be so proud).
We also like Pugs. Even though we've read they have a lot of breathing and health problems. The few times we went to look at ones, they were snapped up.
I met a guy at the racquetball courts who is married to a woman that's written dog books (One is "Your Adopted Dog"). And he'd tell me how to go about getting a certain breed from a shelter or rescue.
My girlfriend and I started getting nuts about it. I said if we got a French Bulldog, we could name it Gotham if it's black (for the city in Batman). Or Popeye...because they have bug eyes, and because of Popeye Doyle, the main character in The French Connection.
We thought of about 10 names for pugs.
After six months of searching, we found a white maltese we think is cute as a button. We're second on the list to get it. We'll see what happens.