It's that rotor AGAIN. It has a hot spot, so it was not turned completely flat and it's rubbing the brake pad at very low speeds. He did not charge me anything, but he also did not call until 10:15 and I had to be in town at 11, so I made my excuses and am planning to join them next time.
With the day ahead of us-Matt apparently made his excuses as well-we cleaned up a little around the house and Matt worked on finishing up some recent repairs to Jake's computer system. I had spent a good bit of time looking at a certain Small Dog on a rescue website yesterday and finally told Matt this afternoon that I really wanted to go meet him.
I know, after the Charlie fiasco, we should have our heads examined, but I miss Zeppie and that's nothing to do with finding a friend for Kuma. We have Jessie on a new regime and she's losing weight and feeling MUCH better, I think she has years in her yet. We have decided not to 'replace' her until she's actually gone, and then with an older dog. Kuma is not a people dog, he needs a dog friend. Every time we have tried to bring in a "3rd dog", it has failed. They are a 2 dog pack, I need to just let that go.
I have been Small Dog looking for a couple of months, we have been to see a couple of dogs, I have spoken with rescue people and animal control people about other dogs I have seen and been curious about and ultimately opted out of getting any of them due to a variety of issues. I don't want a barker or cat chaser, I don't want a baby dog or an older dog that has just been locked up for years.
Sometimes I wonder if no kill shelters are better or not-dogs are not meant to be kept in kennels 24-7 for months on end. It makes them so hard to train when they are used to peeing right where they sleep. And they go nuts when they get outside and don't respond normally to people because people have never done more than hose out their cage and feed them every morning, and not always the same people. There are so many more dogs than families, humanely putting them to sleep after a certain period of time seems more logical than letting them stay in cages until their hearts break and their minds are addled. I never would have said that before Charlie came along, but he was damaged somewhere along the way.
If people would just take care of their pets, this would not be an issue. Spay, neuter, get vaccinations, care for them. UGH, it's not rocket science.
Anyway, I wanted to see this little boy and I finally got up the nerve to tell Matt and he went in and grabbed a bite to eat and changed clothes and we were on our way in 20 minutes.
When we got to the pound, I said I wanted to see Rugby, so we had to give them all kinds of info and then go wait in a little room. A volunteer came in with a scruffy black dog who shook like a leaf when she handed him to me. I knew right away, this was Pele and not Rugby! I have been looking at dogs for a while, in case I did not mention that...
She left Pele with us and went to get Rugby and we patted on him and tried to get him to not be so scared. As soon as she walked in with Rugby, Pele relaxed all over and was very happy. They pranced around together and sprinkled on the chairs and played and they were both so sweet and cute and came right to us when we patted our laps. The volunteer stayed with us the whole time, talking about the process and about small dogs. She listened to us talk about Zeppie and was very understanding. We talked to each other about the cost of such a small dog-we HAVE to get the fence done before we get another little dog. Zep could go right through and that was ever an issue, even if it was not what did her in. They are 4 pounds smaller than she was.
We filled out the paperwork but with the understanding that we would call Monday and tell them what we ultimately decide. And, I can't decide. Not about which to get, we would get them both. Not having a friend was hard for Zep and I am sorry we never made more of an effort. These two get along perfectly, no guesswork about reactions and temperaments, no getting one trained and then bringing in a new one to start all over. They are both over 2 years old and have only been at the pound a couple of days. No worries about the mental issues a long-incarcerated dog could have.
 |
| Could these be more of the rare mop-headed Jack-weasels that we love so much? |
We have talked about it a LONG time. Lists of Pros and Cons, occasional name suggestions ranging from tolerable to horrible. Mostly just talking about Zephyr. Jake never wants to talk about her, he leaves when I bring her up. Today he listened while I told about the time she rode in the van and barked at her eyeball monster that had fallen on the floor. It was rolling as the van moved and when the eye would look up, she'd yelp. We laughed and then had to wipe at tears. I miss that dog, it never stops aching when I think of her. I know new small dogs won't replace her, but they would fill a gulf she left, and we have lots of love just waiting around.
We will talk more tonight, more tomorrow, hopefully reach the right decision. I know if we don't take them, they will be adopted PDQ, they are so cute and small, they won't be there long, so 'saving them' is not a factor, which is good, I want to make a decision not based on life or death.
