She Had Me At Hello

I know I'm a little crazy about my dog. I lived nearly 10 years without one and I feel like I'm making up for lost time. I just finished reading a post by one of my favorite new blog sites, Pioneer Woman - http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/10/hooker-and-josh/ where she wrote about one of the dogs on their ranch who is a rescue.  I want to write about something happy this morning.  Writing about Betty Boop  yesterday left me feeling sad for a good part of the morning.

MISSY 2009
This is what Missy looked like when we adopted her from the Human Society. I looked at a lot of dogs before I found her. The first day I saw her, she was in a middle kennel with crazy, outrageously barking dogs on either side of her. She sat quietly in the front of her kennel waiting for me to come over and give her a look-see while the two crazy dogs on either side jumped up & down like jumping beans as if to say "pick me, pick me!"  Missy looked up at me with her big, human-like brown eyes and she had me at hello.  I was on my lunch hour so I asked to take her outdoors to walk around the building. I was going to rule her out if she behaved badly but she stayed on my left side and walked as if she knew what she was doing. I took her to a grassy spot and she took care of her business and looked up at me as if to say "did I pass this test?"   Not wanting to be impulsive, I took her back into the kennel and said I would return the next day. I kept my end of the bargain and again took her for a little walk and she never missed a step walking next to me.  I filled out an application and the kind lady at the shelter said she had 5 applications sitting on Missy and that she would base her decision on what would be best for Missy. Incidently, she had been brought to the Humane Society with a litter of pups. All the pups had been placed.  Missy had to be spayed before she would be placed so it would be about another 10 days before I would know.  I went back and walked her several of those days so the kind lady would see my face and know I would make a life-long commitment to this K9.  It worked. It was no surprise to me when the kind lady called me and said I was chosen to be Missy's new person. Woohoo! 

Gene went with me to pick Missy up as we had to do it on my lunch hour. He admitted later that he was really surprised that I had chosen Missy. Truthfully, she was looking pretty bad with her coat blown out from her pregnancy and she was very thin. Her ears kind of stuck out and she truly wasn't the prettiest dog in the place but oh, those brown eyes. 

Missy and I started "Canine Good Citizen's" class within a couple of weeks of her adoption. I wasn't sure we were going to be allowed to stay in class because she was so scared of people and she barked constantly throughout the class. Lucky for us, we had a very talented and experienced trainer (Alison) who told me to hang in there with Missy, that she had seen lots of rehomed dogs go through the same stuff. Alison was so right.  We passed that CGC class and moved on to agility and now we are in Rally Obedience class.  Missy is not the same dog I brought home a year ago.  She is, by far, the smartest dog I've ever shared space with. There isn't anything she won't do for a treat.  And her beautiful coat grew in and there isn't a day that goes by when we're out walking that I don't get "gosh, what a beautiful dog" from somebody we pass.  Just look at her now!