I love you, I love you not

I’m back, I’m back!

You might not have realized it, but Jack and I snuck away for a long beach weekend with my family (poor daddy had to stay home and work). We had an awesome time with lots of beach and ocean playtime… and not so much sleep.

The best part is that for the first time in FOREVER I didn’t end up with weird sunburn, so thank you so much Neutrogena SPF 45. It’s possible that my legs might have gotten MORE PALE, but that’s better than blotchy red so I’ll take it!

Before we arrived in Ocean City, we drove in a super not-on-the-way loop and stopped in Alexandria, Virginia to meet a dog. That’s right, we drove 90 minutes to meet this little guy:

I found him on Petfinder and fell in weird internet stalker-y love with him. He seemed like everything we were looking for: friendly, low/no shedder, small, adorable, up for adoption, etc. In my mind, we’d take long walks on the beach, skip through the forest and curl up on the couch to enjoy a nice glass of Moscato while watching Glee.

So, I sent in my application and we hopped on the road to stop by an adoption event to check him out in person.

And he was JUST AS CUTE in person.

Maybe even cuter. So I decided right then and there that I would rename him Dobby and give him a sock.* I snuggled him a bit at the event and even did a weird move where I picked him up and randomly rubbed him on the inside of my arm.

No, I’m not some crazy dog rubber, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t allergic to him (if I was, I’d immediately get hives on my inner elbow). With that (creepy) test done, I held him out to Jack to see how he would respond. The dog, not Jack. I knew Jack would probably pet him just a little too hard while screaming, “DOG!”

Well, when Jack went in for his patented pet/smack move, the dog turned to him and happily licked him in the face. SCORE! With that last piece of information, we went on our merry way feeling pretty confident that Dobby would soon be ours.

I emailed the shelter director some form of, “Yes, YES, OH GOD YES we want this dog to be ours so FREAKING BAD” and then set up a phone interview with a volunteer. Not be all oh-my-gawd-I’m-so-awesome, but I passed that phone interview LIKE A BOSS.**

There was just one little drawback, Dobby isn’t fully housebroken. But in a haze of snuggly doggy love, I decided that I’d deal with that when he came to live with us. I mean, I house-trained Potter almost 10 years ago, how hard could it be? {cue maniacal laughter at my stupidity here}

So, I rocked the crap out of the phone interview so hard that I think the volunteer wanted to come and live with us. The next step was a home visit, so I was feeling pretty darn confident that Dobby would be moving in before the end of the month.

And then it happened.

I got an email at 10:15pm from the shelter director. Apparently little Dobby has a bit of a dark side and has started biting people. Not only has he started nipping, the shelter director feels that he is no longer going to be a good match for a home with children.

Well, no shit Sherlock!***

There is no way I’m bringing a biter into the house with Jack, even if he is only 8 pounds (the dog, not my tubby toddler).

So, we’re back to the beginning of me stalking the crap out of Petfinder and texting my husband a dozen pictures a day. And this experience has made me miss Potter even more, because he was an all-around awesome dog.

I’m feeling a bit defeated with the whole finding a dog in a shelter process. I really want to rescue a shelter dog (preferably one that is still pretty young and house-trained) but the first one I really liked already found a home and the second turned out to be a shark.

Please feel free to share your successful shelter stories in the comments! I’d also love any silly shelter stories of crazy hoops you had to jump through.

So far, my favorite conversation was about how I would need to take the dog for long walks so that he could enjoy smelling the scents in the area around my house. When I told her that the smells included horses, deer and a donkey I’m pretty sure she marked an “A+” on my application…

*This is a Harry Potter reference. My last (awesome) dog was named Potter and I intend to keep the Harry Potter naming goodness going on with our next pet.

**I’m sorry, I know the whole “like a boss” thing is probably pretty tired by now, but it totally makes me laugh every single time I hear it.

*** Keep DIGGING WATSON!