Scout!

We had planned to spend the weekend in St. Louis, but that got scrapped because we found a new dog!   I took Wednesday off work for the kids' last day of school.  My dad picked them up and took them to lunch, so I spent the morning running errands.  One of my errands was picking up rat chow at PetSmart.  The visit to PetSmart sort of knocked me for a loop.  I was so sad and missing Duncan so much I decided to go back to the shelter and look at dogs.  I was hoping the dachshund Kaylin and I played with on Friday was still there.  It was!  Maybe this was meant to be! I pulled his card and requested to meet him.  The shelter has some colored sticker system that IS simple and explained to the public, but I hadn't paid attention.  The sticker on his card showed he was already adopted.  Bummer. The  front desk ladies double-checked his info and found that the adoption had been canceled. Yay! They brought Scout the dachshund to a private room and he was a total sweetie pie.  I filled out a hold form and went to get the kids.

I called my dad and he was close to our house, planning to go to the playground before bringing the kids home.  He was driving right by our street anyway, so I asked him to stop at home first.  Kaylin was very excited about meeting Scout because she had already seen him. Her excitement was contagious and Logan quickly agreed to go meet the dog instead of going to the park. This was the true test. Would Scout be good around the kids? Yes! I won't pretend like our meeting was all flowers and rainbows. Scout would have much preferred a walk outside than meeting with a roomfull of strangers, but he was totally comfortable with the kids.  He showed no signs of aggression and didn't mind one bit when Logan was patting his head a little hard.  Scout allowed me to touch and play with his feet and ears, check his teeth and mouth and roll him on his back with no aggression or resistance.  He wasn't fazed when the kids picked him up.  With these positive signs, I called Gene and begged him to leave work and come to the shelter.

The shelter has a policy that all family members must meet an animal before it can be adopted. Gene reluctantly left work and came to join us.  The shelter people brought Scout to the room and Gene immediately fell for him.  We filled out the rest of the adoption paperwork, paid the fee and were told we could pick up Scout on Saturday.  SATURDAY?!?  Three days? Hahaha. Our terrible test of patience...  Scout needed to be neutered and it couldn't be scheduled until Friday. I was instructed to call Friday after 2 pm to be sure the vet cleared Scout for surgery.  As long as everything went well last night, we'll be picking up our new dog after 9 this morning.  We can't wait!

Since Scout was picked up as a stray, we have no idea if he's housebroken.  We don't know what he'll be like around cats.  We don't know if he'll eat shoes or tear apart the couch.  I'm fairly positive his stumpy legs won't allow him to jump a 6 foot fence, but will he dig?  Bark incessantly?  Walk on a leash?  We'll see.  His age is estimated at 2 years old so he's probably mostly out of the puppy craziness.  He certainly seemed laid back and non-aggressive in our meetings.  It's quite a gamble, but Scout certainly seems worth it!  Four hours until I can call the shelter and then hopefully go get him.

Since we had planned for St. Louis, we all had the day off yesterday.  We needed to do something to get our mind off the terribly long wait for the dog so we decided to take a day trip to Springfield.  Gene's been wanting to go to the Lincoln Presidential Museum/Library since it opened a few years ago.  Yesterday was his day!  Wow, that place is quite a production!  The movies were Disney quality.  We had a good old time playing with toys from the period and I think we all learned a LOT about Abraham Lincoln.  It was a gorgeous day so we moved on to Henson Robinson Zoo.  Logan found two peacock feathers and we had way too much fun playing attack the feather (through the glass) with a pair of young bobcats.  They would pounce and leap and stalk those feathers! We also played with a very active wolverine that was following us along its exhibit and jumping up on the glass to "get" us.  That little zoo has made some really nice improvements since the last time I visited a few years ago.  We had a great time!

It's just starting to get light and I'd love to go down to Forest Park Nature Center and bird a while.  I should probably clean the house and prep for the dog instead. Hmmm.  Maybe I can do both.