“We’re
not buying a dog,” my husband insisted. “We’re just looking.”
“Of
course not,” I agreed. "Just looking."
The
SPCA website showed a multitude of animals to rescue on my home
computer and I wrote down the names of the ones I thought I’d like to see.
Tom and I drove out to the Dewey Animal Shelter in Las Vegas to LOOK.
Unlike
the old days when you could peruse all of the animals, the shelter now
provided a video display of the dogs, cats, rabbits, and
gerbils available for adoption.
From
my original list, number one was gone. We were told numbers two and
three had been abused and snapped at strangers. Number four
had health problems. I took another look at the video and saw a dog they tagged
as El Paso. (The shelter gives the dogs strange names.) El Paso was put on
display that very day, so I asked to see him.
“Abused,”
the attendant warned. “I’m not sure how he will react.” He brought the dog,
attached to a lasso-type leash, and told me to sit on the bench and let him get
used to me. Imagine my surprise when the six pound, long-haired Chihuahua
leaped up onto my lap. He then hopped over to Tom and licked his cheek. We
were smitten.
Tom
took the leash and led the four-year old puppy out to their patio to see how he
would behave. El Paso obeyed the Sit, Stay, Come commands.
After filling in the paperwork, paying the adoption fee, and listened as the
shelter attendant gave us instructions, we were the proud owners of the dog we
renamed Pepe. I chose the name Pepe because Tom insisted on calling him Puppy. Now
(Pepe/Puppy) comes by either name.
Once home,
we set up boundaries in order to begin the house-training process.
After taking him for the initial walk, we watched and waited. Four hours later,
the dog leaned against the door, and jumped up and down when we attached
the leash.
“He’s
housebroken!”
We are so fortunate that this little doggie found us. I
highly recommend the SPCA if you’re looking to adopt a pet. There are
so many abandoned animals out there, and we got the prize.
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