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It's been quite a day.
Took the spouse to get a tetanus shot at a clinic aimed at people who just want to pay in cash, dammit. It was sort of...creepily awesome. Clean, quiet, comfortable waiting room. An actual wait time of under five minutes. Minimal paperwork. Free Keurig pods. And then a nice private room with a friendly nurse who was deeply sympathetic to needle issues. In and out in under half an hour--maybe under fifteen minutes--and, my goodness, now I know where to go for all urgent but non-emergency needs in the future.
Then we went to the dog shelter. And. Dammit.
I told you about that dog, right? That adorable dog, Rascal. Eight-year-old German Shepherd mix, surrendered by owner with another eleven-year-old similar mix. Good with cats! Good with other dogs! Calm, polite, friendly, very house-trained! Non-destructive! We took him out for another walk. And...well.
Go look at this picture.
See that other dog there? The one Rascal is matching up to exactly? That's Sammy, the other dog from the same owner. They've been together for eight years. They adore each other. When I took Rascal out for a walk, he ran around for three minutes, and then ran right back to his kennel to see his friend. We got there to discover Sammy was gone--Rob took him out because the poor boy was desperate for his missing playmate--and Rascal immediately walked into the kennel, sat down, and refused to leave until I could point out his buddy a few yards away also on the leash.
They adore each other. They couldn't bear to be separated. And even if I were up for handling one big dog all by myself... I really, really can't handle two at once. Pets are multipliers, not additive. I know this. But by god. Two old dogs that adore each other. My pants are all muddy from Rascal trying to sit on my lap. The heart breaks.
Sigh.
Then we went and walked Dinah, who is not as big as that picture implies; if she's a shepherd mix, she was mixed with a pretty small other dog. Probably under forty pounds total. She was a real sweetheart, good on the leash, and...a little aggressive around cats. Not hugely, but some.
Then the shelter volunteers decided to introduce us to their favorite dog, John Paul. Who is a very pretty heeler mix, and an absolute cuddly sweetheart. The sweetest on the leash of any of the dogs! Kinda knows how to respond to the Sit command! Known to be calm, friendly, and non-destructive! He lives in the customer service office because they're completely out of shelter space, and he's fine around electronics, but never gets any visitor interest because he's not out to be seen. And he's such a lovely dog. Every time I sat down, he'd come try to sit on my lap, and tuck his nose down, and stare up me with enormous sad eyes. (You can see the same gesture at the end of the video on his official page.)
But he's only a year old. He's a sweet, calm, friendly one-year-old, who should have no trouble finding a home! ...if they ever free up a kennel so that he can actually see other people and be introduced to them.
Sigh. Puppies.
Took the spouse to get a tetanus shot at a clinic aimed at people who just want to pay in cash, dammit. It was sort of...creepily awesome. Clean, quiet, comfortable waiting room. An actual wait time of under five minutes. Minimal paperwork. Free Keurig pods. And then a nice private room with a friendly nurse who was deeply sympathetic to needle issues. In and out in under half an hour--maybe under fifteen minutes--and, my goodness, now I know where to go for all urgent but non-emergency needs in the future.
Then we went to the dog shelter. And. Dammit.
I told you about that dog, right? That adorable dog, Rascal. Eight-year-old German Shepherd mix, surrendered by owner with another eleven-year-old similar mix. Good with cats! Good with other dogs! Calm, polite, friendly, very house-trained! Non-destructive! We took him out for another walk. And...well.
Go look at this picture.
See that other dog there? The one Rascal is matching up to exactly? That's Sammy, the other dog from the same owner. They've been together for eight years. They adore each other. When I took Rascal out for a walk, he ran around for three minutes, and then ran right back to his kennel to see his friend. We got there to discover Sammy was gone--Rob took him out because the poor boy was desperate for his missing playmate--and Rascal immediately walked into the kennel, sat down, and refused to leave until I could point out his buddy a few yards away also on the leash.
They adore each other. They couldn't bear to be separated. And even if I were up for handling one big dog all by myself... I really, really can't handle two at once. Pets are multipliers, not additive. I know this. But by god. Two old dogs that adore each other. My pants are all muddy from Rascal trying to sit on my lap. The heart breaks.
Sigh.
Then we went and walked Dinah, who is not as big as that picture implies; if she's a shepherd mix, she was mixed with a pretty small other dog. Probably under forty pounds total. She was a real sweetheart, good on the leash, and...a little aggressive around cats. Not hugely, but some.
Then the shelter volunteers decided to introduce us to their favorite dog, John Paul. Who is a very pretty heeler mix, and an absolute cuddly sweetheart. The sweetest on the leash of any of the dogs! Kinda knows how to respond to the Sit command! Known to be calm, friendly, and non-destructive! He lives in the customer service office because they're completely out of shelter space, and he's fine around electronics, but never gets any visitor interest because he's not out to be seen. And he's such a lovely dog. Every time I sat down, he'd come try to sit on my lap, and tuck his nose down, and stare up me with enormous sad eyes. (You can see the same gesture at the end of the video on his official page.)
But he's only a year old. He's a sweet, calm, friendly one-year-old, who should have no trouble finding a home! ...if they ever free up a kennel so that he can actually see other people and be introduced to them.
Sigh. Puppies.
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That's a GOOD DOG. There's a reason he's so chill at 1yo.
um. I may be biased.
A GOOD DOG.
(ok I'm going now. um. really.)
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...I may be heading back tomorrow to get him.
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But my god, that nose-between-legs move is darn fiendish of him. It's hard to resist that cuddle-up-with-YOU sort of move.
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"High energy" really tends to mean Jack Russell-style pingponging. Hounds are chill. They need the exercise or they can get fussy and fat, is what I mean. It doesn't mean you have to work an edge off or anything. A greyhound can get physically imbalanced w/o running, but you have to shove them off a bed to get them outside. They will sleep 23hrs a day happily if you let them. Most hounds will- but be quite pleased for some exercise (and healthier and happier for it).
But- he is a mix, so that is likely to play into this too.
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Hounds sound more...laid-back. Which is good.
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2 walks a day plus playing in the yard is a glorious luxury for any dog, and I am entirely sure any dog you get will be healthy and happy w/that routine- it's definitely enough for a hound and will help to prevent him from getting bored.
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