4/19/12 - "Jenny"

Bodhi is a wonderful dog... we love him so much.  He and the cats have semi-bonded... about as much as I think they will.  They now can happily be in the same room together.  If they're in the bedroom, the cats will lay together on the bed and Bodhi under a table in the corner.  It occurred to me that he might be lonely while Ric and I are at work during the day.  So, several months ago, I started thinking about getting Bodhi a dog!

Now I knew it wouldn't be practical to have two dogs to care for while I was going thru chemo, but once that was over, I found myself thinking about it more and more.  The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association started posting pictures on Facebook of dogs available for adoption, and I started looking at the pictures... thinking after radiation I would get serious about looking for another dog to adopt.  But the pictures.  Those sweet little doggy faces looking through the cages.

I read the descriptions of the dogs, looking for one that was approximately the size of Bodhi, so that it would be easy to walk both of them at the same time.  I saw one dog named Jenny, but either I passed her over because she appeared too small or maybe I passed her over because I fell into the "black dog syndrome" trap. (Overlooking a black dog because eyes and fur are the same color, and a person doesn't get a real sense of personality or character of the dog.)  I honestly don't remember why she didn't register as a possibility at first. Then I saw her photo in the Sunday paper of available dogs... and under her picture, included in her description, were the words, "Very sweet.  She's been here since January.  Please help."  And I was hooked.  Jenny needs and deserves to be in a home!

Yesterday I went to the shelter to meet Jenny.  I followed Cesar Milan's instruction of "No talk, no touch, no eye contact" upon meeting a dog for the first time... allowing her to approach me first.  Susie, a volunteer at the shelter, and I walked to a fenced in area.  Jenny ran around for a while, ran to Susie many times, and eventually came to me.  I talked to her and petted her and we got to know each other a bit.  She went to play some more and ran to me a little later, putting her paws on my shoulder, licking my face and looked right into my eyes.  She stayed like that for a long time... until my legs cramped so much I had to stand up!  :-)  She is a very affectionate and loving dog.  She needs a family.

Today I took Bodhi to the shelter to meet his potential little sister.  This time I followed the advice of my friend, Vicki, and didn't talk to either dog at first.  Just took them both outside and walked to the fenced in area and let them get to know each other on their own terms.  It was no big deal... they both "used the bathroom," walked or ran around a bit, and sniffed a lot!  They didn't "hang out" together the whole time, but met up occasionally and sniffed the same patch of grass together.  Then we went for a walk.  It started out well on level ground, but when we started walking uphill on a little trail, Jenny pulled mightily on the leash.  I could not control her at all.  I have to be cautious about both my arms because of lymph node removal, so I turned around to go back to the shelter.  And downhill, Jenny walked perfectly in sync with Bodhi and I!  I met Cathy, another volunteer, at the bottom of the hill and she told me that sometimes the dogs just get so excited to walk after being in the kennel all day long.  So I tried again.  But same thing... strong pulling uphill, but okay going down.  Well, Bodhi pulled on the leash when he first came to us and I've trained him to walk at my pace alongside of me.  I'm confident that I can do it with Jenny too.  But I have to be realistic... if I develop lymphadema in either or both arms, I won't be able to walk the dogs at all.  So... I'm going to foster Jenny for a week and see if I can teach her to walk the way she needs to, or at least make enough progress to know it's possible.  It'll give us some time to see how Jenny and the cats react to her, and how she and Bodhi get along in the house.  If all goes well, then we will adopt her.  And if it doesn't work out, I'll make it my mission to find a good home for Jenny.  It was tough to leave her at the shelter today... but I'll go back and get her on Saturday afternoon. 

I'm looking forward to Saturday afternoon...