Contemplating another Dog

A couple months ago we puppysat our friends pug while they were away on vacation at Disneyland. Ever since, we’ve been thinking that getting another dog as a playmate to our Lucy would be an excellent idea.

Let’s get one thing straight… I love big dogs, preferably Great Danes because they are much easier to block from running out the door than a little dog, albeit there may be bruised and broken bones from the process. But, Otto the Pug is a rare exception, mostly because I have had a little puppy-crush on pugs for years and Otto is quite a sweetie pie, although at times a little rambitious.

So, we had pretty much made up our minds not to go the breeder route to get another dog for a couple reasons, the least of which was our fault for not researching the breeder we purchased our Lucy from, but mostly because there are way too many dogs at the Humane Society and Rescue Shelters. We checked out the local humane society shelter in search of a small dog and found a one we didn’t anticipate finding, which was some sort of wolfhound mix and much larger than we were thinking of, mostly because we have a small house and our animals are pretty much indoorsy, with the exception, of course, being the chickens who have their own house outside. He was adorably ugly, quiet and seemed very intelligent, if a little timid. We never once heard him bark and neither had the people at the shelter, which was a little worrying that there was probably some abuse, but those issues would probably go away given time and a loving home. When we had decided to see if Lucy and this shelter dog would be a good match and brought her in to meet him, she quickly dominated him and he seemed a little scared to be in her presence. This is completely understandable for anyone who has ever met Lucy. We parted ways and made peace with the fact that it wasn’t meant to be. He was quickly adopted out, unsurprising to either of us.

Then one night my partner got an email from one of the local Great Dane Rescues saying they had a two year old male recently dropped off who was a bit malnourished and was so incredibly cute, just quite skinny, especially for a boy. He called up the rescue to get more information and got quite a bit, including an odd name, Danner, and found out he would benefit from a dominant female dog, which we already have. As much as I don’t think we could take on another Great Dane in this house or how we would travel with them, it also breaks my heart that months later he is still available for adoption, as my partner keeps telling me at least once a week… if not more. I’m tempted to suggest we take a drive and meet him, if for no other reason than to find out if he would even work out or not so I can make peace with the situation. Oh, the guilt!