Motherhood From the Edge of the Map: There Is No Kona, Only Zuul

Last year, our family adopted a dog. Rather…*I* adopted a dog. Big Daddy’s job, at the time, had him traveling LIKE CRAZY and I just plain didn’t feel safe. I took a TON of “Lucy Ricardo” type convincin’ and ‘splainin’, but BD finally acquiesced, and Kona joined the family. I had initially gone to the local animal shelter to adopt a Border Collie. I work with two Border Collies on the farm and I am comfortable with the breed. I got the Border Collie out of her cage, but before I could even walk, she jumped up on me several times. I appreciated that she was happy to be “free,” (I can’t IMAGINE what it must be like to be a BC in a cage…) but with little kids and cats…it was just too much energy for our home, simply not a good match. (She has since, been adopted.) I was getting ready to leave, knowing the dog I had initially come for didn’t work out, but I decided to “walk the floor” one last time. It was loud…smelly…and the company of the local county inmates on work release (the “elbow spider web” tattoo was a DEAD give-a-way…_) was a tad unsettling. But, criminals or not, a morning without kids was a cherished commodity and I was going to make the most of it. I walked the floor slowly, smiling politely at the prisoners…until a medium sized brown dog caught my eye.

He was plain, dirt brown…skinny…with a chocolate muzzle…and quite possibly the saddest eyes I have ever seen. They were pleading with me as he sat, cowering in the corner of his run…ears pinned back against his head. He looked at me sideways, out of the corners of his eyes, as if looking at me “head on” would be considered impolite. He looked like he was about to lunge at me, teeth bared, protecting his tiny, cold, concrete turf. He was a dog, and as a card-carrying “cat person,” I would have normally passed right by…not particularly cute or cuddly, friendly or engaging. But I stopped.

“Hey boy,” I said gingerly.

Immediately his tiny nub of a tail started wagging.

“Hey Guy!” I shouted excitedly!

Now his nub-wag turned into a full body way. And with that, he curled his torso into the letter “U,” presenting me with both his butt AND his face at once. It was JUST like when I met Big Daddy (hardy har!…) And with that, I was in love! He came home with us a few days later.

The “funny” thing about the dog is…although his cage card at the shelter said, “Boxer Mix,” I took one look at him sitting in my living room and thought… “Oh dear God…I’ve brought home a Pit Bull.” Oh well. Whatever he is, he is sweet, he’s good with the kids and the cats and he’s already proved his worth a few times over as a MORE than ample, loyal Guardian Dog.