We are back in a BIG way at “It’s a Dog’s Life”! And I have Kane, a 4 year old Cane Corso mastiff to thank for this.
A few days ago, our 17 year old “community” cat-in-residence, Kitty, passed. As her health declined over several months, we talked about adopting a dog again. Our neighbors pointed out that Dexter and Comet crossed the Rainbow Bridge just a few months shy of four years ago. One of the dogs our adult son suggested was a Corgi, like Bruce, our friends’ Corgi we dog-sat a year ago.
It was good for the household’s emotional health to start looking. After scouring websites petfinder.com, adoptapet.com, woofsandwagsdogrescue.rescuegroups.org, and sdhumane.org, I created a list of available dogs. These were mostly six year and older dogs, Pitties, and mutts like the ones we had experience raising. I found only had one Corgi-mix, and he was in Oceanside, about fifty miles from our home. I drove up to Oceanside, then to the Helen Woodward center in Rancho Santa Fe, and was planning to go again, with our son on Tuesday to scour the county. I was good with finding him a dog but he revealed any pet would likely not be leaving with him after he married and moved out this year.
In hindsight, I could have just gone a few miles away, where we had adopted Comet ten years ago. Because I had seen Kane on Sunday at the El Cajon campus of the Humane Society.
Yesterday, we looked at Kane and another dog, a 5-month old energetic puppy that the workers there said would require a lot of training and behavior modification. At this point in my life, I am not looking for high-energy and not really inclined to months of behavior modification and training.
I am looking ahead to the Day Two routine with our big guy. Then, in a day or two, more supplies, toys, treats and a dog crate will come. As Kane seems to already have adopted his new pack, we both will get plenty of exercise and companionship. Later this week, we will have a veterinary appointment, and I have to get started on the licensing paperwork.
It's a Dog's Life 