The week before The Wichita Eagle did a story on the humane society & how they were overflowing with dogs to be adopted. Well on my day off Rigo told me to go LOOK only :) I went in and saw all these dogs & puppies with wagging tails and then I saw Max. He was just sitting there & looked so depressed. He gave me the "take me home" eyes. He broke my heart so I asked to spend some time with him and he turned out to be a very sweet, playful (and VERY HYPER!) dog. His previous owner took him to the shelter because she couldn't spend any time with him. I thought it was a sign because the day he was brought to the shelter was the day our old apartment got broken into a few weeks before (bastards!you got my laptop but it doesn't work! hahahaha jokes on you!)
When Rigo got home I told him I put a dog on hold at the shelter. (oops!) You can place a dog on hold for $20. You have 24hours to come back to adopt the dog. If you don't, the $20 becomes a donation and the dog (or cat) goes up for adoption again by anyone. If you adopt, the $20 goes towards your adoption fee. I showed Rigo Max's picture online at the shelter's website. (www.kshumane.org) He said Max wasn't cute *gasp!* and said he didn't want a cocker spaniel. Well I told him that I just wanted him to see Max and that if he didn't like him then we didn't have to get him. (yeah right, he was already mine!)
We went up to the shelter after work and if you want to spend time with a dog to see how you match they put you in a private room. Well Max (who I've learned since then is very intelligent) must have known he had me at first glace and now had to win over Rigo. He immediately ran to Rigo (ignoring me) and was so happy to see him and pee'd on the floor. (Cocker spaniels tend to do that when excited) Rigo caved and said yes. I actually think Max prefers Rigo over me. (Odd, yes I know)
At the Humane's Society most dogs are $130 to adopt. They also have dogs priced for $65 in the Lonely Hearts Club. Those animals are harder to adopt based on age or medical problems. We got Max at the Lonely Hearts discount because he has to be on a special diet and has allergies. Hes actually not high maintenance at all.
Max was an owner surrender, not a stray. His owner had to give him up because she felt bad for always having him crated up. I guess she traveled a lot. But she took great care of him. She gave the name of the vet she took him to to the shelter and when I called to make an appointment they knew him by name! I learned her name and where she lived (I'm not a stalker I swear!) Fast forward a few months, I am working at Shea Vision and one day I notice that this woman named Karen is scheduled for an exam next week. OMG! Thats Max's old mom (lol!) I was excited to meet her. (You would think I adopted this child and I am meeting the birth mother) Sadly she had to reschedule and I had to wait two more weeks to meet her. When she came in I said "This may be kind of a weird question, but did you use to have a dog named Max?" She said "Yes! Do you have my puppy?!" She was so relieved to hear someone took him in. She actually knew he was adopted because a friend of hers works at the vet and called to tell her someone was bringing him in for a Wellness Exam. She told me how so felt awful for leaving him home alone and decided it would be best if some gave him up to someone who could spend more time with him. She told me she cried all the way home after dropping him off. Max was at the shelter 3 weeks before we adopted him.
The first day we got him, Rigo and I took him to this nature center on the east side and took him for a walk. He was so excited to be out and about. But for the longest time when we would walk him, he would turn around and stare at us, then continue to walk. It was like he was checking to make sure we weren't going anywhere. *tear!* We've had him now for 5 months almost. I spent $30 on a dog bed he never used. He prefers to sleep with us. If we actually get him off the bed, he sneaks back in and is always with us when we wake up. (He kicks!) He loves to eat Rigo's socks (no idea....) and also likes to stick his head in my purse and eat/chew on whatever he can find. (money, mascara, debit card....) Rigo taught him to sit and lay down in one day. Also, if he wants to go out, he brings his leash to you (so adorable).... (gee I wonder if I will talk this much about my kid-ha!)
This is rather long but the whole experience of adopting Max has been far better than I could have imagined. I never understand why someone would want to adopt an adult dog. I didn't think I could bond with a dog that I hadn't had as a puppy. But I was so wrong! On the plus side, you don't have to deal with potty training/crying. Major bonus.
We had Max about a week and my mom (who probably has newspapers from 1982) noticed the paper last week sitting on the coffee table about the Humane's Society. She looked at the front page... "Omg thats Max!" He was on the front page and I didn't even notice!
"TOO CUTE, TOO MANY BEGGING FOR HOMES" (title of article)
"Appearing confused and afraid, a dog gives his keepers a mournful look through a kennel wall at Kansas Humane Society. 43 staff members and a pool of 250 volunteers keep the overburdened animal shelter running" (photo caption)
Living the life!
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