Hearts in Hawai'i
Searching For a Family Dog
7/28/2012
The idea of getting a dog had been kicked around by Patty and me for several years. Prior to buying a house, the biggest problem was that we lived in an apartment. In this particular apartment, the only pets allowed were "therapy pets", which required a doctor's written approval. The other problem was a limitation of size, not to mention the extra deposit we would have to put down.
Patty was always more "gung-ho" on the idea than I was. While we had both had pets while growing up and shared a love for dogs, this was something she wanted more than I did. For her, it was more a quality of life issue. For me, it was a convenience issue, and having a dog when we liked to travel (specifically, to Hawai`i) every year just wasn't convenient.
Not to mention the cost. Dogs aren't cheap! Estimates for cost of ownership in the first year can range up to $2,000, with an ongoing annual cost of $800-$1,600, depending on who you talk to. It's not that this would break the bank. It's just that we have become used to a certain lifestyle with being able to afford certain luxuries, and having a pet would cut into that in a not insignificant way.
With that in mind, we had been searching the website for Animal Allies in Duluth. Our preference was for a small to medium sized dog. I had always wanted a dog like the one I had in my teenage years, a black lab mixed with smaller breeds. Sam was a 50-lb, mild-mannered sweetie and I would have loved to own another dog like him.
They were difficult to find. The dogs offered at Animal Allies tended to be larger, with many pit bulls and larger labs featured. So we decided to use petfinder.com in an attempt to find a dog in the breed/size range we were looking for, within a reasonable distance ("reasonable" defined as within 100 miles of Proctor).
There were a few within a one-to-two hours drive which looked promising. But it wasn't until we looked at the website for Chequamegon Humane Association that we found a dog which really looked interesting. His name was Harold, a medium size Chow Chow/Black Lab mix. He was cute! We decided to drive out to Ashland on a Saturday and check him out.
Our first impression wasn't exactly the most favorable. When we arrived, he was in an outside kennel, running back and forth from end to end alongside a Border Collie in the adjacent kennel. That's all they were doing, running back and forth, back and forth. Harold's attention was totally focused on Fred, and we were unable to get his attention so we could get a close-up look. They decided to take Fred out of his kennel, and in the process, Harold lunged through a small opening and latched onto Fred's side with his jaws! Fred yipped and broke free of Harold's grasp.
They explained that Harold and Fred didn't get along, which begged the question; that being the case, why were these two dogs allowed to be in adjacent outside kennels? There were other kennels available which would have allowed greater separation.
But anyway. We had the chance to walk Harold along the trails the CHA had cut out near their facility. He was fairly well behaved considering he was "neglected" (they used that word rather than "abandoned"). Apparently he had no actual training prior to this point. He was just a raw puppy with tons of energy. Still, we sensed an undercurrent of calm confidence beneath the surface.
We submitted our application and it only took two days for the application to be approved. The only decision left was, did we want him?
Previous: 6/21/2012--Tubing in the K-Mart Parking Log
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