Twist of Fate

Sunday afternoon we went to get the dog. Part of the reason that the adoption was such a long process is because J, the woman fostering Kibbles, really, really wanted to keep him. Her family was in love with him. Every time I’d spoken to or corresponded with her she would ask me if I was sure there wasn’t another dog on the website I was interested in. She also tried to get me interested in the other dogs she was fostering, even going so far as to send some pictures. Finally, I wrote J and told her that we’d gotten the idea she wanted to keep Kibbles and that she should do that. We wouldn’t be upset… The dog was in a good home and didn’t really need us. Of course, I threw in the guilt trip stuff about how hard it must be to make the choice to keep a dog you’re fostering because it might mean not being able to help the next dog that came along.

As I mentioned previously, Mel had pretty much lost patience with the whole process and wanted us to drop it. She couldn’t understand why I would go the distance with J, who we’d decided based on our communications, seemed manic and unstable. Conversations with her were all over the map, to the point where we’d started to refer to her as ‘crazy lady’ and ‘whacko’ at our house. But, I am tenacious… both patient and stubborn. Since this was the kind of dog Mel wanted, I was willing to put up with some crap. Plus, I wanted to see the process through. We’d been approved; phone interviews, home visit, reference checks, etc., had all been completed. J needed to make a decision and I wanted to wait it out. Finally, about a week and a half later she responded saying she would give up the dog… she knew she couldn’t keep him. So, off we went to meet her and get Kibbles. Even at the last minute, J threatened to pull a bait ‘n switch and bring us a different dog. I could never be certain whether she was joking. Mel even thought she might not show up.

J did show up at the appointed time and Kibbles was just gorgeous! We were very excited about meeting him… at first. Despite our scare over nearly losing Thilde on this trip, it was a damned good thing we’d brought her along. Kibbles was far too rough for Thilde. While she didn’t get hurt, she got pummeled pretty bad during their first play session and then tried to steer clear of him. He was way too high energy, and boy could he leap. When we realized he could jump almost as high as our faces and hadn’t had much obedience training, we knew we were in trouble. What if we were carrying the parrot somewhere in the house and he got interested? It was obvious the dog could jump over a baby gate and could go after the bird. Having a fenced yard wouldn’t be enough for this dog to get his exercise either, and Mel was sure her old Westie would have a real problem with him too.

How can you judge from a picture and some conversations? He was what we wanted, but also way more than what we wanted or could handle. Had we not taken Thilde with us, we probably would have gone home with Kibbles only to find out it wasn’t going to work out the hard way. So, we made the decision not to take him… we just couldn’t. J was ecstatic! That doesn’t mean we went home without a dog. J had brought other dogs with her. We just didn’t get the one we thought we were getting. Instead, we got a sweet, little gem who has turned out to be a fabulous playmate for Thilde. And this little dog really did need a home. More about her soon…