Hunting Dogs Today

No not necessarily as in dogs that you go hunting with, but rather hunting for a new dog - that is how I spent a good deal of today with my wife. First it was up and at em cleaning up my mini-zoo. Then off to the North Hempstead Animal Shelter to check out the dogs. We saw a really friendly Lab mix (if you talk to the folks at the shelter) or Shepard mix (if you believe what it says on their site about the same dog). It was supposed to be only 10 months old, the claim was it was housebroken, it was friendly, good mannered on the leash, understood some commands, and deferred to the overpowering authority of our small chihuahua Pepe when he snarled at her. She was not the prettiest dog, but was easy on the eye. The only bad point was she was overweight. Not good for a 10 month old dog. We withheld judgement and headed over to the ASPCA shelter in NYC. There we took the tour and looked at all the available dogs, except the one we wanted to see. I had been there 3 days ago and saw a really nice looking Lab/Weimaraner mix (or so they claimed). It looked the part though. Today they said it was out on a walk, and would be back soon. Soon wound up being about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour wait for us. When we saw her, the lady who showed her to us was none to certain why she had been adopted then returned to the shelter. Being it cost $200 to adopt her (yes that is what the ASPCA is charging as her adoption fee, as opposed to the $29.50 fee of the North Hempstead Animal Shelter) there must have been a compelling reason that the last person brought her back to the ASPCA. A few days ago they told me it was something to do with the other adopter not being able to care for her, or something else benign. Today we find out she was going into the kitchen, somehow getting into the kitchen sink to grab dishes, then breaking them when they fell to the floor. Sounded hyper like. She was a bundle of energy, and I like that as she was very playful. Thing is she peed all over the floor without a bit of hesitation, and I had been told she was making inside and outside and was almost housebroken, which I guess really was code for not near housebroken at all.

Both dogs were responsive, apparently about a year old (though the first one looked older maybe because she was overweight), knew some commands, and got along good enough with the tiny terror Pepe. The first was much more mellow, easy on the leash, and friendly. The second was better looking, had more desire to play, was friendly, but pulling on the leash and hyper, and as I said made a mess while we were there. Decisions, decisions. We left both behind, and will think about it since we are in no rush. I sure like the playfulness of the second one, but am none to sure I want a dog that needs to be housebroken, especially one that weighs about 60 pounds, oh those messes! Decisions, decisions.

Here is a link to a set of pics of the first one at the North Hempstead Animal Shelter: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10435127.

No links available for the other one.

Got tomorrow to think about it if I want to scoop one up on Monday. I have all week to think about it if we want to look for another beasty next weekend. Decisions, decisions. Hunting dogs is not as easy as I had thought (although I can tell you, that $29.50 adoption fee is tempting compared to the $200.00 one).

All the best,
Glenn B