Friday

Friday afternoon, around 1, the phone rang, and the caller ID informed me it was my vet's office calling. One of the vet techs - who took very good care of Teh Dawg - breathlessly asked if ana and I were looking for a dog.

"Uh, well, I mean - " I stuttered. "We haven't seriously talked about it."

$vet_tech went on to explain that there was a woman who was probably going to be giving up her dog and that it was a great dog, a vizsla, and there had been a situation and the owner wanted to give up the dog. The dog, Rocky, had been in his yard gnawing on a rawhide bone, when a kid visiting her relatives had come up behind him and reached down. Rocky snapped and a tooth punctured her hand. Rocky was being a dog - the kid wasn't really doing anything wrong, except surprising the dog, and Rocky had never done anything like this before. He is 2 years old, and had been through two levels of obedience training.

"So it's just you and ana, right?" $vet_tech asked. "No kids."

"Right," I said. "I, um." I was torn. I really wanted to talk to ana - we had said we probably wouldn't get another dog, but I was worried - dogs who have a history of biting, especially biting a kid (even accidentally) are incredibly difficult to place. Some rescue organizations (including the one who placed Sadie with me) won't take dogs at all if they've shown any signs of aggression. There was a better than average chance that Rocky could be put down if he went into a shelter. On the other hand, did we really want another dog?

I told $vet_tech I'd need to talk to ana (who was at that moment in a meeting and then off to the telescopes 7th birthday party) and asked if she could give us a couple of days.

"There's going to kennel him," she replied. "So if you could let me know by tomorrow morning at the latest?"

I assured her I'd let her know either way, and went to stew at my computer. There's no real way to make a rational decision about something like this. I know that we'd be able to give the dog a good home, but did we really want to?

Finally, ana returned, and we talked through the situation for a few minutes. ana's take was "Reluctant, but persuadable." My take was, "I have no fucking idea."

We left it that I'd go to the gym, work out and think about the situation, and ana would think about it while I was gone. When I got back, I was still completely undecided. People on irc were telling us that it's time. Our house is very quiet, especially with only the two cats now. So ana and I talked more, and we decided we'd give it a shot - make an appointment to meet the dog at least, and if it didn't seem a good fit, we'd bow out - knowing, of course, that being the softies we are, that meeting the dog would almost assuredly mean that we would want to take him.

I called $vet_tech, who called the owner, who called us back, sobbing at the thought of needing to give up her beloved dog. But she has two kids - 7 and 9 - and their friends' parents won't let the friends come over anymore after the Incident. Understandably, of course. It was an incredibly uncomfortable phone call, and I tried to comfort her. We made an appointment to see the dog on Sunday.

As an aside, this is much the same situation that brought Sadie to me. She snapped at the 3-year-old in her house, after showing no signs of agression (because the 3-year-old was pinching her). But the parents were no longer comfortable having Sadie in their house, so the rescue organization I'd already been in touch with called me and did sort of a back-door placement, since Sadie wasn't eligible to go back into the rescue system. And in the 6 years I had Sadie, I never saw her react aggressively to any kid - even the ones who would come up and throw their arms around her.

Saturday

Beginning at 10:00am, I played 14 innings of softball - a double-header to make up for a rain cancellation. Fortunately, it wasn't too hot, and we had plenty of players - and we played much better than we ordinarily do. We don't have the best team - our record (after winning both games) is 4-4-1 - and it's been kind of a frustrating summer. I played second base for almost the entire two games, pitching a couple of innings in the first game.

I made a couple of accidentally great plays - when I was pitching, I caught a line drive (and then looked at the ball, surprised that it was in my glove); I caught a high pop fly deep behind the second base line that I lost in the sun; and I dug up a low throw to second for a force-out. I also, of course, tried to turn a second-to-first double play and threw the ball into the stands, but by that point, it didn't much matter anymore.

It felt great to be hitting well, catching well, and (mostly) throwing well, and after rather soundly winning the two games, we moved on to the pub and drank a bit too much beer. Now, though, every muscle in my body aches, and getting up from a chair is particularly painful - back, legs and arms all crying out. I think I'll have a light work-out at the gym today.

Sunday

I was nervous all day Sunday before the appointed hour to meet the dog and his current family. 3:00 finally came, and we were invited inside. Rocky immediately ran up to ana - who is quite the dog magnet - and tried to get into ana's lap. We spent about an hour and a half talking to the parents, meeting the kids, and playing with the dog. We primarily discussed Rocky's background and our own experiences with Sadie. We repeatedly assured the parents that our top priority is Rocky's happiness - if he'll be better staying with his current family, excellent; if not, we think we could give him a good home and we're more than willing to stay in touch with them to let them know how Rocky's doing.

The dog really is great. He weighs close to 70 lbs - all lean muscle and bones. He'll need exercising regularly, but that isn't a problem for us. And he's an incredibly friendly and cuddly dog. They'll call us when they decide what to do. I'm pretty sure the husband is leaning toward giving the dog away; the wife isn't so sure. At least she didn't cry while we were there (although her eyes got that wet, glistening look from time to time). I do feel like they were comfortable with us, though, and if they decide to give the dog up, we'll get him. If not, Rocky will get to stay with his family. Either way, it'll be a win.

And I do have to say that it was gratifying that $vet_tech would think of us as good dog-parents.