Ruffles

Ruffles - our new little dog. We finally found a great one!

Every day for weeks I spent hours at the computers searching through PetFinder which seems to be THE place to go to post an available dog. I'd look other places too but most leads wound back up there. I thought I had found one, applied, only to be told by the rescue lady that it wasn't a good match for me - even though she'd never met me or visited my home. She didn't like the fact that I said I would leave it outside a few hours a day. I thought I would be doing a dog a favor to give it some fresh air. Good grief.

I looked some more. If you've not looked for a dog before, you'd be surprised at all the tough cases these rescue groups take on. Puppy Mill dogs have the most to overcome. Many shelter dogs do too. A good percentage have heartworm - which is extremely costly to treat and takes months. Because of the costs involved in rescue and vets, the adoption fees are high - up to $250 for a mixed breed. It's crazy.

So, I started avoiding rescue groups if I could and focused on county shelters. I found another that looked great but someone beat me to her by a hair. I kept looking. Morning, noon and evening I

was checking Craigslist, PetFinder, and the local classifieds. I even started to consider a puppy. Yes, a purebred puppy that would cost hundreds of dollars to buy followed by hundreds of dollars in vet bills.

That's when I found this little dog at a shelter about an hour from here. In the posting they caller her a West Highland White (shows what they know) but in the photo they posted she looked like a Norwich (or Norfolk, I don't remember which). I called and was told someone else was coming to look at her. I figured I'd lost this one too. I called again after they should have seen her and was told they wouldn't give her to them because they were going to make her an outside dog. She's little (14 pounds) and they didn't think she would fare so well during the winters so they declined their application. So, I took off from work early and hurried up there.

It's hard to tell from just a few minutes with a dog, and I was a little shaken from my previous experience, but she seemed like a happy dog. I held her upside down like a baby and she relaxed in my arms. That's amazing. I learned to do that with puppies when I was with CCI. It's a good way to tell their personalities from a submissive / dominate standpoint. She's not a puppy but she acted like a submissive one. She also relieved herself outside while on a leash which I considered to be very good (after my last experience). So, I paid the fee ($60, plus $18 for a heartworm test) and made arrangements to pick her up two days later so she could be spayed.

Two days later I make the drive again. When I picked her up I was told they discovered she had already been spayed so since we was out anyway they trimmed her nails, cleaned her teeth, and tested for heartworms and intestinal worms. She got a clean bill of health.

She has turned out to be a great little dog. She's housebroken, well mannered (with the exception of jumping and we're working on that), she doesn't beg but she loves to sleep in our laps while we watch TV. She is good with Abi. She hasn't bothered a single shoe, sock, or any other item. She does have a little separation anxiety but I think she'll get over that. She is adapting to the crate nicely. She sheds just a little bit. She doesn't seem to know any obedience but she has already learned to "wait" which I consider to be the most useful command ever. It would be hard to hand pick a better dog. Someone must really be missing her.

I'm guessing she's a Yorkie/Schnauzer mix but I'll never know for sure. It doesn't matter what she is along as we're a good fit for each other. I think we finally found it. Whew!