A Good Sad
Der Brucer and I got up early today. We had some travelling to do, with dogs in tow.
The destination was Newark, Delaware. We were meeting a young, divorced mother and her daughter. They had seen the pictures of Peggy and the Brindle Boys at Petfinders.com and were interested in Baxter, the larger and healthier of the pups. Der Brucer, thinking ahead, had decided to take Peggy and brother Benny as well.
Der Brucer talked Navy stories on the way up. We were both avoiding the fact that one of the pups might not be with us for long.
So after the drive, about eighty minutes or so and two toll booths, we met Mom and Daughter at a very public rest stop. It's better that way, at first, to make sure the people we're meeting are comfortable with us as well as we being comfortable with them. The Mom was very nice, and Daughter a pert four-year-old, very focused on meeting the pups. As it was, we got Baxter out of the car first...and he immediately decided to hide under the car! Peggy went with der Brucer, giving Mom an idea of any inherited personality traits (Peggy is a loving wonder) and an idea of how large Bax would be when he grows up.
Then the wonder occurred. Daughter didn't care that much for Bax...but immediately took to Benny! And Benny seemed to like her, too!
There really was just one more step. Part of the adoption process is a check on the home environment. There really wasn't any reason not to go ahead and do that immediately, so we followed Mom in her car to their apartment building, and der B went in with the family for the "inspection."
I thought it would be a good idea to take Peggy and Baxter for a walk. Once out of the car, Peggy made a beeline to the stairs she had seen der B walk up before entering the building. It took a minute or so to convince her that she couldn't follow, and should tour the parking lot. We made one circuit of the lot, and then again in the other direction. We went back to the car, and a little later der B showed up with filled-out paperwork and a check to cover the Animal Rescue group's expenses.
Everything about the apartment was fine. The Mom was fine, the Daughter was fine. And Benny seemed interested in his new environment.
It was as fast as that. We turned the car around, and headed for home. "The daughter did have one question," der Brucer told me. "She wanted to know if she could call Benny 'Baxter.' I told her of course, he's her puppy now." He smiled when he said that.
We listened to a CD on the way home, talked some. It took Peggy a while to realize that Benny wasn't going to be with her any more, which bothered her for a while. Baxter has been hanging close to her. And the rest of the day has been a little sad for us.
But it's been a good sad.
