Jock's Love

Part 53: the failures in getting a pet

Jo and Brick were lying in bed on a sunny Saturday morning in July when Jo had a crazy idea. She decided she wanted a dog. She got out of her purple pajamas, and put on some green cargo shorts, a white tank top, and green socks. She then woke up Brick by turning on the lights in their bedroom and removing Brick's blanket.

"jo... it's too early... why you awake this early?  Mmmmhhh *yawn* it is only 9:13 am." Brick sleepily asked Jo.

"Well... ya'know how I've been obsessed with Chloe's dog?" Jo asked, "She's that coworker who always brings her Beagle into the office on Fridays."

Brick responded, somewhat confused, "Yeah. What about that?"

 Jo hesitantly stated, "I've been thinking about this for a while, but I want to go to an animal shelter and maybe get a dog."

"Are you sure? Dogs bark a lot, need to be potty trained, require walks daily, and need lots of attention, toys, and food." Brick mentioned. 

"I know. I just want to go to the shelter nearby and look at the dogs. Maybe play with a few and get to know them. I want to just have that experience and maybe if I see a dog that I feel a connection to, we can consider getting them." Jo stated.

"Ok! But are you REALLY sure you want to do this?" Brick cautioned. 

"Yes."

After they got up, they got dressed for the day, and then Brick went into the kitchen to make some coffee. Jo followed Brick into the kitchen, and she toasted a poppyseed bagel and then added some cream cheese, tomato slices, and capers on top. After the pair ate and finished their coffee, they brushed their teeth and hair and got into the car.

"What dog breeds are you looking for?" brick asked Jo.

"Maybe a yorkie, or a pug. I'm really not sure." Jo rattled on, "Or a poodle, or a pomeranian, or a dachshund, or a pug or a..."

"As long as it's not a chihuahua or a pitbull." Brick cringed, cutting Jo off. 

"Well after you make this left-hand turn on 11th Street we'll arrive," Jo stated.

Once they arrived at the shelter, Brick parked and they went in. Jo sat down on the blue couch and Brick flagged down an employee.

"Hi, what brings you to our shelter today? Looking for some kitties or puppies?" A tall Latina lady asked.

"My wife was wondering if she could meet some of your dogs. She was thinking of maybe adopting one." Jo told the employee.

"That's lovely! I will take you to our dog area!" 

Once she guided Jo and Brick to the puppy area, she brought out the first dog.

"This is Sky. She is a poodle husky mix. She is 8 years old and her previous owner was a retired navy vet who died 3 months ago from Cancer at the age of 71." The lady stated.

"Any young dogs?" Jo asked.

"Yes. Hold on."

As the lady went to the dog room, she decided to bring out Rocket, her favorite dog. Once she brought the dog to Jo, she removed his leash.

"This is Rocket. He is a golden doodle mixed with a greyhound. His DNA results showed us that. He is 7 months old and he was found by one of our workers on the side of the road near an old farm, and as you can see he is missing his left ear and that's because of an unknown injury." 

Brick, not wanting to own a large dog, asked, "Any small dogs?"

"I can show you our pitbull Boston terrier mix!" the lady said happily, "He's really friendly and he's only 4 years old!"

She began walking to the dog kennel when a man came out holding the dog on a leash with an adoption card in his hand.

"Looks like Bacon got adopted!" The lady beamed, "I can show you Snowy. She is a mix between a pitbull and a Samoyed. She is 7 months old, and she loves napping on people's laps!"

"Any other small dogs? I don't love pit bulls." Jo replied.

"We have a pug poodle mix, but he's 11 so you may not want him since you only like young dogs," the lady said.

"True." Jo replied, "Any others?"

"I can show you our other dogs." the Latina lady said back.

Once she got to the dog kennel area, she motioned for Jo and Brick to come with her. 

"Well, we have 4 chihuahuas and one chihuahua poodle mix. We do have a pure breed Yorkie, but he is 14 years old, and you guys said you want young dogs." The lady replied, "We also have a Dachshund, but he's a mix between that and a pitbull and you said you don't like pits."

"Oh...." 

"Yeah. I can show you the chihuahuas though!"

"Um... no that's okay. I'd rather not."

"Oh... nobody ever wants to adopt them. It's really sad." the employee lamented, "they all end up sitting in our shelter with the pits until they die of old age. That's the sad part of the job. Nobody ever adopts them!'

Jo decided she didn't want to stay and see all the sad dogs, so she told Brick she was ready to leave. Once they got in the car, Jo turned on the radio and tried to not think about the not-so-great shelter experience she'd just had.

"well, Brick, I think getting a dog is really not a good idea right now." Jo sighed.

"I'm so sorry. That experience really did suck." Brick replied.

And so the couple went home and Jo cooked some salmon and broccoli for lunch.