Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Dog Blog II -- The Maltese Falcon

So my girlfriend and I had gone to all the shelters. We spent lots of time on this thing. We'd drive down to Chula Vista to see one dog, and we wouldn't care for it, or other people already had holds on the few we did like.

We find a white maltese mix. The tiniest, cutest dog you've ever seen. It looks so sad in it's cage, with two other dogs next to it.

You call it over and it slowly scampers over and licks your finger thru the fence.

Someone had already put a hold on it, and we were the second ones.

As we interacted with the dog and loved its personality, the woman at the shelter said that it's 50/50 on the first person coming to pick up the dog. That was a little surprising, consider the fact that if you spent the time looking at dogs and driving to the shelters, that you would find one you want to "reserve" and then just not show up.

We were so excited about this dog, we started going thru all kinds of names.

My girlfriend liked the idea of a persons name, like Steve. When I said "Doug," because we have an inside joke about that name, she said "That's Sarah Silvermans dog." That made me like it more.

I then said "Murray," which she loved. I said, "Nah...unless it's an old schnauzer, I don't think that name works."

I liked the name Cotton, because this dog looked like a big cotton ball.

The dog only weighed 6 pounds, but had all this white fur. She then said, "I don't care so much for the name, but if you like it. What about a first and last name? I kind of like the way that looks on paper work." I then replied, "How about James Cotton? That was Muddy Waters long-time harmonica player."

She agreed. And then we both agreed, how insane it was to pick a name, when we didn't even have the dog yet.

So, the day came when the first people were supposed to show up, between 10 and 11:00 a.m. I told her that I'd show up at 10:00, and if the people came for the dog, would offer them some money to let us have it. She thought that was horrible. But, it wasn't as horrible as some of the other ideas I thought about saying to them, to convince them to give us the dog (they involved a sick child that lost a similar looking dog, etc). I then decided I would just wait and see who the people were, and ask them how sure they were about the dog. But even that, my girlfriend was against.

So, I'm on the phone that morning talking to comedian Tom Dreesen, and I couldn't get down there until 11:00. I knew my girlfriend would be taking her lunch early. I didn't realize HOW early. She got there at 10:00.

I walk in and I see her talking to someone at the front desk. And, I hear another voice say something to her like, "If you sit down, we'll call your name. We know that you're here."

I'm wondering what's going on. If the first person came for the dog, she wouldn't still be here. And, she would've called me and told me that.

I glance down and realize I had never turned my cell phone on in the morning. And when I do, I see two calls from her.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots

So my girlfriend and I had gone to all the shelters. We spent lots of time on this thing. We'd drive down to Chula Vista to see one dog, and we wouldn't care for it, or other people already had holds on the few we did like.

We find a white maltese mix. The tiniest, cutest dog you've ever seen. It looks so sad in it's cage, with two other dogs next to it.

You call it over and it slowly scampers over and licks your finger thru the fence.

Someone had already put a hold on it, and we were the second ones.

As we interacted with the dog and loved its personality, the woman at the shelter said that it's 50/50 on the first person coming to pick up the dog. That was a little surprising, consider the fact that if you spent the time looking at dogs and driving to the shelters, that you would find one you want to "reserve" and then just not show up.

We were so excited about this dog, we started going thru all kinds of names.

My girlfriend liked the idea of a persons name, like Steve. When I said "Doug," because we have an inside joke about that name, she said "That's Sarah Silvermans dog." That made me like it more.

I then said "Murray," which she loved. I said, "Nah...unless it's an old schnauzer, I don't think that name works."

I liked the name Cotton, because this dog looked like a big cotton ball.

The dog only weighed 6 pounds, but had all this white fur. She then said, "I don't care so much for the name, but if you like it. What about a first and last name? I kind of like the way that looks on paper work." I then replied, "How about James Cotton? That was Muddy Waters long-time harmonica player."

She agreed. And then we both agreed, how insane it was to pick a name, when we didn't even have the dog yet.

So, the day came when the first people were supposed to show up, between 10 and 11:00 a.m. I told her that I'd show up at 10:00, and if the people came for the dog, would offer them some money to let us have it. She thought that was horrible. But, it wasn't as horrible as some of the other ideas I thought about saying to them, to convince them to give us the dog (they involved a sick child that lost a similar looking dog, etc). I then decided I would just wait and see who the people were, and ask them how sure they were about the dog. But even that, my girlfriend was against.

So, I'm on the phone that morning talking to comedian Tom Dreesen, and I couldn't get down there until 11:00. I knew my girlfriend would be taking her lunch early. I didn't realize HOW early. She got there at 10:00.

I walk in and I see her talking to someone at the front desk. And, I hear another voice say something to her like, "If you sit down, we'll call your name. We know that you're here."

I'm wondering what's going on. If the first person came for the dog, she wouldn't still be here. And, she would've called me and told me that.

I glance down and realize I had never turned my cell phone on in the morning. And when I do, I see two calls from her.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Dog Blog -- Acquiring a Mutt

Next Article

Observations From the Drive-In

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader