Life of the Lintee Bean

I’ve little experience with dogs.  I’ve never had a dog of my own.  I have friends with dogs, and have had family with dogs, and even briefly had a roommate with two dogs.  But I consider myself pretty ignorant when it comes to dogs.

At some point, however, the thought of having a dog myself became appealing.  It may have had something to do with my one-night-stand with Sandy the dog. Or perhaps it was all the fun I had playing games with Omaha who, while a cat, some people described as “dog like”. I’m not sure, but I started toying with the idea of having a doggie companion.  My cats, on the other hand, were not open to the idea of a doggie companion AT ALL.  I used to ask Rumpelmintz if she wanted a dog – she quite emphatically said “no”.  Sometimes I’d tell her she could ride it like a pony, and it would be “her” dog.  She’d pause and think about it a second, but still say “no”.

The house has been empty since Rumpelmintz passed away in June 2013.  Many people contacted me about adopting a cat (or cats), but the thought just made me sad.  I was just too focused on the losses I’d suffered and how much I missed the cats I’d had to consider opening my heart and home to a different cat (or cats).

Yet, it seemed I needed something.  After all the cats were gone, it seemed my life lacked a sort of “purpose”.  I imagine this may be how people feel when their children have all left home – or after they’ve retired from a very satisfying career.  It was as though part of my identity was gone.  I was told I was still a “crazy cat lady” – but a crazy cat lady with no cats?

After some time, I was thinking more and more about the possibility of adopting a dog.  I even adopted an “imaginary dog”.  It was my way of practicing for the possibility of having an actual dog.  For example, when ChiBeria was at its height, I shoveled a path for my “imaginary dog” to do its imaginary business.

Path for imaginary dog to do imaginary business

I figured the next step would be getting some experience with not-so-imaginary dogs. I went to the dog shelter near my house and signed up to volunteer in December. They gave me a tour, and I dove in, filling water bowls using a watering can so I didn’t have to open any cages/crates. I confess, I didn’t make it long. I quickly became overwhelmed with the barking dogs and left, rather embarrassed.

I wasn’t even brave enough to go back until March. I was thinking about dogs seriously by then, and had purchased and read some books on dogs. This time I went in with the sole purpose of walking some dogs and potentially applying to foster one. I walked four dogs that day: Bender, Dixie, Shannon, and Spot. I had it in mind to foster a larger, older, low-energy, easy-to-walk dog. Bender fit the bill pretty well. He was an older (8 years) Beagle/Basset Hound mix. I enjoyed walking him. He was much more interested in sniffing things outside than in me.

Bender on a walk

Dixie wasn’t really anything like what I’d been thinking of, but she was cute and lower-energy and easy-to-walk, so we went.  She had me laughing from the minute I met her.  The shelter volunteer came out carrying her, telling me Dixie didn’t want to go for a walk and I might have to carry her – and put her in my arms.  I carried her outside.  Dixie said it was cold.  I carried her across the busy street, then put her down.  She balked at first, then decided if we were going for a walk, it was ALL BUSINESS and she’d walk with great purpose, quickly on her little legs.  She wasn’t stopping and sniffing anything – though she’d stop on occasion to shake the snow off her fur and face.  She was ridiculous.

Dixie on a walk

I was having my typical brain-too-full meltdown, so just asked a volunteer to bring me a dog that would be easy to walk for the next two.  Shannon was a funny whirling dust mop on a leash.  Very cute, but younger and higher energy than I had been considering.  Spot was a doll, but had some “leash reactivity” which means he tends to bark at people and other dogs when leashed.  As someone with no real dog experience, I wasn’t sure I was equipped to teach him differently.

Despite being cold, I thought of how much fun it was – and went back the next day.  I walked Bender again.  He was a trooper as before, and plodded happily through snow and puddles sniffing (and peeing on) things.  I walked Dixie again, and she had me laughing again with her reluctance to get her paws wet and how unsure she was that we should go for a walk at all.  As usual, I was overwhelmed and relied heavily on the shelter volunteers for other dogs to meet.  Lizzie was too fearful to go for a walk, so I spent time with her in the “meet and greet room”.  She gathered enough courage to approach me for a treat, but most of our time was spent with her barking and biting at the door wanting out.  Frisco was undergoing heartworm treatment so couldn’t go for a walk.   We also spent time in the “meet and greet room”.  He urinated on the room’s wall, put his head in my lap for a while, then lay on the floor.  He seemed more like a “no energy dog” than a “low energy dog”.  I don’t know if that was the recovery or he’s just like that.  He was nice.  I was unsure.

I talked to friends a lot.  Two things came up frequently from them:

1) I laughed and smiled a lot when I talked about Dixie.  While she was nothing I’d imagined as a dog companion, she brought me joy and felt… “easy”.

2) While I’d been thinking of fostering and getting some dog experience before committing to an adoption, I might be really reluctant to let go of a dog I’d fallen in love with.

Things happened quickly after that.  I had thought I could maybe bring a dog home in mid-March after a trip to visit family. Now I was imagining Dixie in my home, and nervous she’d be adopted before I had a chance. With encouragement, I submitted an adoption application for Dixie the Friday before my long weekend trip.  The shelter volunteer checked my references on Friday, and followed up quickly.  I explained I’d be out of town until Tuesday night. That worked with their schedule, as they were unavailable for a home visit before Wednesday,  On Wednesday, my adoption was approved.  Thursday afternoon (March 13), I was able to pick up my little girl.

(Edited to add: Just in time, by the way – apparently the shelter received two adoption applications for Dixie on the day I picked her up!)

Dixie and the Lintee Bean – together forever!