Sunshine

I’ve had more than a few pets in my long life and sometimes I have to dig deep to remember each of them. It’s not that I loved any of them any less than others; it’s more that when I get a new one he seems like the greatest one ever. I’ve had ponies, cats and even an alligator as a pet; I loved them all (with the exception of the alligator), but I have to declare that I’m a dog man. I would say that dogs seem to have fewer ulterior motives, but that is probably not true. It’s probably more that the head games they play are easier for me to understand; I never said I was real smart.

Some of the animals I’ve loved the most have come to me in the strangest of ways. We once drove to Warner Robins to get a bulldog puppy that was either $35 or free, it depended on which newspaper add you were answering (we chose the free one). We adopted several animals that were put out by the dirt road that fronted our old home and we’ve chosen a puppy (or two) from a litter produced by one of our  own (we don't do this anymore) dogs. But last weekend was the first time we have gotten one from Animal Rescue.

I have volunteered there in the past for fund raising events, but this was the first time I’ve ever just went inside and “viewed the inventory”. I don’t mean this to sound callous, but it is an overwhelming feeling to walk by each cage and look in the eyes of living creatures that really only want one thing…you to pick them. It’s a lot like watching kids trying to be picked by the teacher for a special privilege. Even the playground bully straightens his collar and plasters the same smile on his face that will melt his mother’s heart when he needs to. How do you choose?  You can’t choose them all.

We made several rounds through the kennel area and scratched every nose that poked through the wire. Every size, color and hair length a dog can possess was represented, and honestly it was getting hard not to get choked up; I was overwhelmed. To pick one meant that I would have to exclude the others; part of me wanted to make my typical daddy excuses and just go home. But before I could leave I realized that I had been standing in the same spot for quite some time scratching the same dog. I looked at this little white creature, and without opening my mouth, asked her if she wanted to go home with me. She said that she did and I told her we would be back for her later. After we went to Lowes... purchased a kennel and dog-proofed our home…in the next few days…let me check with my family. No, we’ll be back.

Luckily she was my daughter’s first choice as well, and after promising the attendant we would be back Monday or Tuesday, we excitedly headed home to eat lunch. Our old dog was pretty low maintenance so we needed quite a few things for the new one; we wanted to start everything off just right. But in the middle of the planning I thought of the little white dog and the promise we shared. Did she really believe that we would come back for her? She was the longest resident of ARF in attendance that day (we found this out later) and I’m sure she’d had her hopes dashed before. “Go get her now” I told my wife and daughter “I’ll go to Lowes”. Welcome to your new home Sunshine!