Puppy Adoption: The Quest Begins!

As many of you know, Husband and I are thinking of adopting a puppy.  It isn't a 100% percent final decision yet, but still--cue the happy dance!

On Sunday, we went by the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County.  Much to my surprise, they only had 2 or 3 puppies available for adoption. (It looked like part of the building was being remodeled, so maybe they had less animals than usual?) The puppies that were available looked as if they had the potential to grow into Extremely Large Animals.  I don't think we have enough room on the bed for An Extremely Large Animal unless Husband agrees to sleep on the floor.  I somehow don't see that conversation going very well.

I would have been pleased to consider adopting an adult dog (or even an elderly one), but based on my experience with MiddleSister adopting The Sausage, I believe that Beatrice will perceive a baby dog a less of threat, and will thereby be accepting of its presence in our home.  We may be thinking about getting a puppy, but rest assured that everything is still All About Beatrice.  

And thus our visit to the Human Society lasted all of 10 minutes.  

But fear not--the quest continues!

On Friday, we have an appointment at Fayette County Animal Rescue (a.k.a. FCAR), where it has been promised that we will meet several puppies, including these adorable babies:

These photos are from FCAR's Facebook Page

As far as I can tell, these babies haven't been given names yet.  Emily, FCAR's Adoption Coordinator, referred to them as "the scruffy puppies." They were estimated to be around 12 weeks old when they arrived at the shelter last week.

What breed to these look like to you?  They REALLY look like terriers to me!  In fact, I'd have a hard time believing that these were NOT terrier mixes of some sort, even though I know that appearances can be quite deceiving when it comes to mixed breed puppies.

I wonder if Husband is ready for a terrier?  To paraphrase Pater Profundus, the word "terrier" comes from the Latin word "terra," which, as we all know, means ground or earth.  Terriers were bred to dig and to hunt.  They are intense, active, little creatures.  It's important to Husband that the grass in our yard looks good.  A terrier is going to be less than helpful in that regard.

We are also supposed to meet this sweet little guy named Augie:

These photos are from Augie's listing on PetFinder.

Augie's background is even more mysterious than that of the Suspected Terriers.  He's currently listed on PetFinder as a mix of Catahoula Leopard Dog and Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) that will grow up to be a large size. BUT at 8 weeks old he still only weighed 4 pounds. According to Emily, this sparked a debate at FCAR about whether or not he was really a Catahoula mix, and whether or not he would actually grow up to be A Very Large Animal.  Was he small because he was malnourished and wormy, or was he small because he's a small dog?  By the time we meet him on Friday, he'll be 10 or 11 weeks old.  Hopefully, the amount that he's grown over the past 2-3 weeks will give us a clue as to exactly how large he's going to get.

Emily is currently fostering Augie.  I need to ask her if she's started potty training him yet.  If so, that would definitely be a point in his favor--it'd be super convenient to adopt a puppy that's already on its way to being housebroken.

FCAR does have another little of puppies, but we won't get to meet them on Friday because they are in a foster home, and their foster mom is out of town until next week.  

These photos are from FCAR's Facebook Page

Theses babies were born in the foster home, and their mother is small dog, so we can be reasonably confident that they aren't going to get very big.  I've never owned a yellow dog before.  I feel vaguely guilty, like I'm contemplating stealing an animal that's supposed to belong to MiddleSister.  Yes, I have quite an active imagination.

The problem with looking at an animal rescue's Facebook page is that they post photos of sweet babies that nobody loves.  For example, this sausage-shaped animal was handed over to animal services to be euthanized because he had dental disease, and it made his breath stink!

Photo from FCAR's Facebook Page

So these people owned a sausage for ten years, didn't take care of its teeth, and then decided to get rid of it because of a problem that they created, the unfeeling psychopaths.

And then there is this terrier mix...WHO IS NAMED BEATRICE. THERE WAS A DOG NAMED BEATRICE WHO WAS LEFT TO WANDER THE STREETS. WHISKY FOXTROT TANGO??!!

Photo from FCAR's Facebook Page

My heart is crying....

I don't want to end a post about puppies with something sad, so here are a couple of puppy videos to cheer us all up:

Wrestling puppies!
Posted by Fayette County Animal Rescue on Thursday, April 9, 2015

Augie is pretty sure the giant rope toy intended for his 60lb foster siblings is really for his little 4lb self! He is available for pre-adoption, if you are interested in him please fill out an application at fayettefcar.com.
Posted by Fayette County Animal Rescue on Friday, April 3, 2015