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Sunday, April 14, 2019

the pitter patter

Magnum took last Friday off of work.  Among some other things, he wanted to give our tax returns one last scrubbing before shipping.  I'd gone to a P.E.O. thing in the morning, and when I returned, he announced that he'd found a few more $$$. 

Yep, that's why I hired him.

I had one tutee lined up for later that afternoon, but other than that, the schedule was free.  He suggested we go to lunch, maybe look at some pooches...

We adopted Penny, our little whatever-mix, back around Christmas.  She is sweet and funny and full of energy.  We were thinking she could use a furry friend, she looks so lonely when we have to leave her by herself, and the cat will only put up with so much.

We'd been lackadaisically perusing local shelter sites, seeing if anything jumped out at us - a not-too-big dog, preferably male,  that would get along well with our other pets.  I'd spotted a prospective candidate on Thursday, so we decided to drive up to Castle Rock and check him out in person. 

We didn't make it to lunch. 

But, we also didn't get the dog we saw on the shelter's website.  Sadly, that sweet boy had pretty heavy fear issues, and it was apparent that we had neither the time nor available attention he would need.  Additionally, Penny I-want-to-play-all-the-time would not have been the right companion for him. 

"But since you're here..." the kindly shelter staff member pulled up a few other recent dogs that were not on the website or in the display area yet.  We scrolled a bit and then...

"HIM, can we see him??"

Male Australian Shepherd, about one year old with a BEA-U-tiful coat.  35 pounds.

He was brought to us, and I expected a shorter pooch given the 35 pounds.  It was clear from the get go, however, that 35 pounds is not his ideal weight.  He was SKINNY  skinny!  They didn't know much about how he'd ended up at a shelter and then transferred here, but it seems apparent from his skin-and-bones that he'd been on his own for quite a while.

And yet, he was just the sweetest boy.  Honestly, he was irresistible...

... and now he lives with us.  We named him Merlin.




8 comments:

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

Merlin in a beauty. Australian Shepherds are usually so smart too. I'd have picked Merlin too.

Abby said...

Peggy, we used to have an Australian Shepherd/ Border Collie mix. He was very smart. I told Penny that Merlin is her tutor.

ShadowRun300 said...

Aww! They’re going to be so happy together! I love that you adopt from the shelter.
Not sure I told you, but we adopted a cat from the shelter after we lost Tiger. We’ve watched him grow from being scared and timid, to having so much confidence, and becoming very attached to us. Just heartwarming to know we’ve been able to provide such a great life to an animal that was once locked up. I know you feel the same.
Sorry I’ve been gone so long... but I’m all caught up now! Always makes me happy to visit ya. (Speaking of... I’m still planning to for real. Maybe July? August?)

Larz said...

So great! He's very distinctive. I'm glad you can help out out out-of-staters. haha.

Abby said...

SR300 - Penny and Merlin were FAST friends. I'm glad you got a new shelter cat. Shelter pets are the best, aren't they? Wouldn't have it any other way around here :). And I plan to be here in July/ August!

Larz - He's beautiful inside and out!

Ginny said...

Welcome home Merlin!!! What a sweet boy. Please feel free to post as many Merlin pictures as you want ;) and all the other pets for that matter.

LL Cool Joe said...

I hope Merlin will be very happy in his new home.

Lorraine said...

Thank you for saving this beautiful boy!!