Okay, it's actually past nine. But I didn't go to bed until 2 am and didn't sleep much, so it feels really early to me.
I was looking at my local SPCA website (because of my job we interact with the SPCA constantly and I'm always curious to see if I know any of the pets in there) just to keep tabs on the pets currently up for adoption. I discovered something that damn near broke my heart...it stirred me to tears, in fact. Back when I worked in boarding, we had a "problem" dog that was absolutely gorgeous. He was a pittie/lab mix, golden in color, with a blaze of white on his chest. He was one of my favourite dogs. He was considered a "problem" for certain people because he was nervous around new people he hadn't seen before, mostly women. At one point he actually jumped up on my coworker (in play) and his foot caught her shirt, tearing it. She was scared that he had tried to attack her, and so he was no longer allowed to stay in boarding. However, since he was so well behaved for both my manager and myself, we decided we'd do a series of trials for this dog in order to keep him coming back as a client. We did some free day stays, as well as a couple of overnights, on just the days that her and I were working. It worked out really well...in fact, most of the poeple he was showing nervous (often mistaken as aggression) behaviour towards, he started to become accostomed to. His owner proudly reported the dog looked forward to his stays with us - which of course is the best praise possible. Anyway, after much progress, the owner ended up not going away as often, and we didn't see the dog for quite some time. Now, he's listed on the SPCA website as an adoptable dog...they've renamed him "Buster". I won't disclose his real name, but I'm willing to bet it's the same dog, and if I went there and called him by his real name, I just know he'd respond. It breaks my heart to know this dog was so well loved in his home by his owners, and now he's in the pound. I wonder what made them change their mind about him. I'm desperately considering going down there to visit him today, if possible. I miss that golden prince of a dog, and now that he's become readily available, I want him. I know I can't have him...I don't have the time for him, and it wouldn't be fair. But he knows me, he loved me in boarding, and I'm concerned he'll go to someone who will treat him poorly.
It's probably stupid of me to think such a thing.
Well. On a lighter note, yesterday we purchased some new items for our kitchen and bathroom for the new place. It felt amazing to be able to pick out new things and have hope for the life we're structuring for ourselves. Losing hours at work of course is a downside but we can make it work. As long as we pay the bills, it'll be fine, and we have enough to do that.
I have a purring cat on me, one beside me, and a sleeping boyfriend on the floor. Things are quiet, but peaceful. Now if only I had a tea....
