Pupup

The week of October 13th began normally enough. John left bright and early for his bi-monthly trip to Ft. Worth, and the kids and I set out for a morning adventure. But on the way out of the neighborhood we noticed a small dog wandering aimlessly in the middle of the street. Forever grateful to the numerous people who have stopped for OUR dogs wandering aimlessly over the years, I stopped to check for a collar/tags. Nothing. But amazingly, he came to me, with these huge, frightened eyes. He seemed downright grateful. We went back home to make up "found dog" signs, and proceeded to hang them at various posts around the neighborhood. He passed my trust test, so he was allowed to ride around on Anne Peyton's lap, much to her great delight. Once the signs were up, he ran some errands with us and then came back for lunch. Anne Peyton named him "Yoyo", then later she changed his name to "Pupup" for some reason. Since I liked the first name better I attempted to call him that, but she firmly and quickly corrected me.

I figured I'd have a message on my phone any minute, or at least that night after the owner came home from work. But nothing. So he spent the night with us. I requested to work from home the next day so I could keep an eye on him.

Day 2 - I left my info with every shelter & vet office I could think of. The vet said he had no microchip and was probably a MinPin/Chihuahua mix. By the end of that day I still had no calls, and I got pretty worked up about the thought that some awful person must have knowingly abandoned him. There would have been no excuse for them not to find me (imho). It's easy to let emotions pile on top of emotions, but suffice it to say I was a weepy mess as I was going to bed that night.

Day 3 - Had to get up to the office so Dolores reluctantly took the dog for the day so he wouldn't be alone in my house. She called me at 2pm practically in tears, begging me to come home as soon as possible, because he had crapped on her carpet and would not come out from behind the couch. Poor Dolores. Poor Pupup.

Day 4 - Poor John returned home to find he was no longer the dominant male in the house. He was greeted by the newcomer with a fierce growl and then fiercer barking when he got closer. The growling never let up. I loved that the little sweetie was just defending me, but you can imagine how annoying it was - especially to John. The best was when John started growling back at him. Boy THAT went over well!

Day 5 - Gave up on finding an owner, so I posted Pupup with my Freecycle group. (Never heard of Freecycle? Oh my goodness! You must check out http://www.freecycle.org). Within an hour I had 6 responses - several with great recommendations about no-kill shelters, plus some tentative offers of adoption! I zeroed in on one woman, Michelle, who said she already had a chihuahua mix, and was looking for a companion dog. That was a plus, since she was already familiar with their overly protective nature. I asked her a few questions by phone and decided it would be a great match; she didn't even mind that he wasn't fully potty-trained. The kids and I dropped him off at their house later that night, and I was convinced without a doubt. He even crapped on her floor while we were there and she cleaned it up without so much as a grimace. And she offered that we could come back at any time to visit. I'm not sure if that was more for Anne Peyton's sake, or MINE when she saw my tears on our way out!! Sheesh, what a crybaby.

Day 6 - Had an email from Michelle stating that the first night went fine, and that "Chico" (surprisingly (not), they opted NOT to call him "Pupup") acted like he had lived with them a long time, and that he and Tinkerbell were getting along famously. All's well that ends well.