As I think I’ve mentioned, our family is deep into the process of adopting a dog. Maddie is turning thirteen on Saturday. Let’s face it. Even though she’s the loved and doted-on and irreplaceable seventh member of our family, she’s getting older. Which means, we’re going to have to replace her in the next couple years. Or months depending on how her little doggy body holds up.
About a year ago Catie started asking to get a dog. I have a bleeding heart when it comes to animals, so I thought it was a fantastic idea. M is more logical–and aware that my bleeding heart doesn’t necessarily make me wake up for a crying puppy or get super excited about cleaning up dog poop.
So, M told Catie she had to research dog breeds, present the research to us, ask the family to take a vote, and then find that dog. He even offered to take her to the library to find research. But as a proud member of Generation Google, she borrowed my iPhone, googled Labrador, and wrote down ten sentences about the breed.
Then school started, and she got busier with homework and reporting which flip flops her teachers preferred to wear than googling dog breeds. Her work was done, anyway, because she had successfully planted the seed. I started taking the kids to animal shelters every weekend, and M agreed we’d probably be getting a dog in the next few months.
So, we started REALLY talking about it. My idea was to rescue as many of the mangy, high-strung pit bulls from as many shelters as we possibly could. See what I mean about being too emotional about animals? M quickly understood that it would not end well for me to keep hanging out at animal shelters. He started to murmur how he might like a GoldenDoodle puppy. Like daughter, like father, he googled them, and we watched YouTube videos ensuring us that, “Yes! GoldenDoodles love huge, chaotic families!”
But M and I had a difference of opinion. I grew up in the country. Country people, at least those in Galveston, Texas, do not pay for designer puppies. Country people rescue the dogs who are dumped on their road by families who no longer want them. As a kid, dogs were constantly wandering onto our property. By the time I was the twins’ age, I’d knew advice like, “If you feed a dog it’s yours”, “Big paws on a puppy mean a big dog”, “A black tongue means a chow, who will bite.”
By the time I was Catie’s age, I had seen a litter of puppies go insane from distemper, dogs mate, dogs fight, dogs die, and dogs give birth. 103rd street didn’t have any girls my age, so my friends were the dogs. You looking forward to your Cabbage Patch Doll; I looked forward to the next litter of puppies. This was before Bob Barker was reminding America to spay or neuter their pets. We were not doing our part to control the pet population.
In contrast, M grew up with apricot-colored Teacup Poodles. The ultimate designer dogs. Because of my history, I had a deep passion to rescue a needy dog. M had a deep passion to not add another needy member to our household.
We reached a compromise by agreeing we would rescue a full-bred family-friendly breed, but we would find one who was in a shelter situation and needed a home. And so we started applying with the many foster home/rescue groups in Houston.
And we learned the world of dog adoptions has changed. It’s gone crazy. Rescue groups are serious about saving dogs, and they’re not going to let an average family interfere. For every Lab or GoldenDoodle we applied to adopt, we got a rejection. “NO KIDS UNDER TWELVE,”they told us. Which seemed insane to us. Kids and dogs love each other. But the rules didn’t stop there…the applications asked questions like, “do you ever board your dog?” Who doesn’t? Strike against us. “What brand of dog food do you use?” Whatever’s on sale? Strike against us. “Is your current dog microchipped?” Well, no, but the kids feed her treats all day…really. She’s not going anywhere.
We finally found the rare adoption group who would give one of their rescued dogs to a family with kids. So, we started their application process.
What. A. Process.
Twelve steps, including, an hour-long phone interview, a two-hour office visit to interview the kids, a two-hour home visit, calling all of our references. an interview with our vet, an office interview with Maddie, and two books for required reading. Although the whole process has been educational, it’s also been tedious enough that I wished some poor chow or Teacup Poodle had just wondered onto our property.
BUT I think we’ve been approved. We’re only days away from the eighth member of our family! We’re getting a dog for our kids to love, sleep with, and feed an indiscriminate number of treats…so it never runs away.
