His name is Lucky.
I've been wanting a dog for a while. Anthony, who will tell you if you ask him that he's sometimes slow to warm up to change, took a while to convince that it was going to be okay to have a dog. Hours of searching on the internet, visiting adoption events, and a previous visit to the Humane Society gave us an idea of what was out there. I thought it was the best idea to get a rescue dog.
We ended up at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona shelter on Kelvin Blvd. We went there today after going to an adoption event at Chapman Volkswagen. By the time we got to the dealership they had adopted out all of the animals the Humane Society had brought there. So, it was on to the shelter's headquarters.
One dog stuck out of the 100+ dogs they had at the shelter. I had seen him the first time we went there a few weeks ago. He was unaffected by the chaos of other dogs barking and seemed like he was one of those dogs that might be a good fit for us living in an apartment. The staff at the Humane Society described him as "skiddish". Which in my experience usually means a dog that, once it warms up to its human caretakers, has the potential to be very loyal and enjoyable. It just requires some patience to get it settled in its new home and let its personality flourish.
We've discovered a few interesting things about him already. He's remarkable on a leash. He's also got a severe case of A.D.D. when he's outside -- being affected by every noise, person and thing in his vicinity. We learned at the Humane Society he had been struck by a car and had been found as a stray. He's very scared of cars and traffic but still manages to be responsive to the leash even though he's tempted to run some random direction when a car is near.
He's been chilling in front of the couch when we haven't been outside and unwilling so far to explore the apartment. About six hours in we finally got him to go to the water bowl and drink. One thing we haven't discovered yet at the shelter or at home: His bark. It'll probably scare the crap out of me when he finally says something.
One of the coolest moments so far came when we took him to the car to leave the Humane Society. It was quickly obvious he's been trained by somebody how to deal with a car ride. The moment the door was opened on Anthony's SUV, he leaped into the driver's side without prompting, crawled over to the passenger seat, and made his way to the floor where he stayed the entire time. We went home to get a debit card to go shopping at Petsmart, and on the trip home (he came with us inside the store and did great on the leash even though he was quite overwhelmed by the environment there) the moment the back door of the car was opened he jumped in, went to the other side, and went down to the floor where he stayed until we got home. Safest way for a dog to travel without a crate and he did it all by himself.
I'm sure I'll have more stories later... but I did take a few photos of the first day of the Lucky adventure:
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| Anthony actually drove today. I knew it was going to be an unusual day and we were going home with a dog. Because this is only the third time in the 3 years I've known him he's driven me anywhere. |
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| I ran into my friend James at the adoption event at Chapman Volkswagen. He's going through the paperwork process to adopt a puppy. |
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| James and his new canine puppy companion |
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| Lucky on the floor of the car during the ride home from the Humane Society |
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| Anthony taking Lucky for a walk around the apartment complex |
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| Lucky hears a flea fart and has to look in its general direction |
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| Lucky in his festive new harness |
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| Say hello to Lucky. A one year old greyhound mix from the Humane Society with a new home at the Ken Carr World Headquarters. |