Twelve days into house ownership, we have made, well, not as much progress as we would have liked. New carpet is down, appliances are in and some rooms have been painted, but the house still isn't what you might call move-in ready. So we haven't quite moved in.
Oh, we live there. But most of our belongings are still boxed up in the garage. The only room we have fully unpacked is the kitchen.
Stella, for her part, is settling in fairly well. She had a rough first week, made rougher by the fact that there were carpet tacks and painting materials all over the place, so she wasn't allowed to run free in the house. But I gated off the dining room for her and took time out of each day to walk or play with her, and after being in the house for awhile now, she's getting used to the new routine.
Today, her new routine gets an added element -- a pet sitter. When we lived in the condo, my husband was able to stop in on his lunch break to visit with her and take her out, but now, neither of us works close enough to home to do so. And 10 hours with no potty break is a long stretch for my little dog; she can make it, but she has a tough time.
I feel a little strange about having someone in my house, taking care of my dog, when I'm not there. (And embarrassed about the house's current state of disarray.) But I feel pretty good about Stella's new babysitter. She was very nice and quite professional and answered all of our questions before we even asked them.
And since I left a full treat jar on the table this morning before I left, I am sure Stella and her sitter will be best pals in no time.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Regretfully They Tell Us, But Firmly They Compel Us, To Say Goodbye To You
Farewell, condo; hello, house.
We closed bright and early on Friday morning, had most of our things moved in by early evening and began the long, arduous cleaning process on Saturday. The move went pretty smoothly, all things considered -- that is, until I returned to the condo with my mother-in-law to retrieve the last few items the movers couldn't take. I was secretly hoping for one last chance to annoy (and possibly tell off) McCrochety, but the universe had other plans.
As we were pulling up to the building, I noticed a man with a beagle, off-leash (the beagle, not the man, though come to think of it, the man wasn't on a leash either) and peeing on the front lawn (this time just the beagle). I hadn't seen that dog in the neighborhood before, but other than the fact that she was not leashed, it didn't strike me as all that strange.
When we got out of the car, though, the man came up and asked me if I knew whose dog it was; he had seen her wandering around and was worried because she was alone and close to a busy street. He couldn't get close enough to look at her tags; he pulled out his cell phone and said he might try to call the police department's non-emergency number. A few minutes later when I came out with some things to load into the car, the man was gone. But the dog remained.
After another few minutes, when the man hadn't reappeared and no one had shown up to retrieve the dog, I started getting concerned. The pup seemed friendly, so I cautiously approached her to see if I had better luck reading her tags. She was wary of me, but with a little smooth talking, I was able to get her to stand still.
She was definitely skittish, but she seemed to be a sweet girl, and definitely a runaway (as opposed to a throwaway). She was well fed and well groomed; in fact, I thought she must have just had a bath, because she smelled clean and flowery. I called the number on her tag (the Animal Welfare League) and was told there was no one available to pick the dog up, but I was welcome to bring her in or hold on to her until someone could come to get her.
Holding on to her wasn't an option. I was smack in the middle of a move -- the condo was no longer mine, and I wasn't going back to the new house till the next morning. But taking her in was a lot to ask. It was 10 p.m., I'd been up since 5:30 a.m., I had to get my things out of the condo and drive to my in-laws' house, an hour away, to stay the night, and the Animal Welfare League was 25 minutes in the opposite direction. Not to mention that I had my own dog and a jam-packed car full of stuff.
But I couldn't just let this poor dog roam free. It was a chilly night, and there was a very busy street just a few feet away; the chances of something bad happening to this poor animal were just too great. I thought of my little Stella, at that moment sitting in her carrier in the car. How would I feel if she got out and no one did anything to help get her home? Somewhere, this little beagle had a family who was missing her, and if I could help, I had to help.
I decided to try the police, even though the man who had found the dog apparently had had no luck. I'm glad I did; they said they hadn't gotten a call that she'd been found. They had, however, received a report from the dog's owner that she was lost. I gave the dispatcher my address, took Stella's leash out of the car and walked the dog around a bit until her owner showed up.
As I waited, I began to wonder how I would know the owner. One would think that a person wouldn't try to claim a dog that wasn't theirs, but these days, you never know. Luckily, the beagle took it upon herself to let me know everything was OK; as soon as her owner was within view, she sat. And while she had been skittish with me, she very obviously knew -- and liked -- this lady, so I felt comfortable sending them on their way together.
So while I may not have gotten a chance to say a proper goodbye to McCrochety, it felt great to reunite this sweet girl with her owner. All in all, I'd say it was a very satisfying end.
We closed bright and early on Friday morning, had most of our things moved in by early evening and began the long, arduous cleaning process on Saturday. The move went pretty smoothly, all things considered -- that is, until I returned to the condo with my mother-in-law to retrieve the last few items the movers couldn't take. I was secretly hoping for one last chance to annoy (and possibly tell off) McCrochety, but the universe had other plans.
As we were pulling up to the building, I noticed a man with a beagle, off-leash (the beagle, not the man, though come to think of it, the man wasn't on a leash either) and peeing on the front lawn (this time just the beagle). I hadn't seen that dog in the neighborhood before, but other than the fact that she was not leashed, it didn't strike me as all that strange.
When we got out of the car, though, the man came up and asked me if I knew whose dog it was; he had seen her wandering around and was worried because she was alone and close to a busy street. He couldn't get close enough to look at her tags; he pulled out his cell phone and said he might try to call the police department's non-emergency number. A few minutes later when I came out with some things to load into the car, the man was gone. But the dog remained.
After another few minutes, when the man hadn't reappeared and no one had shown up to retrieve the dog, I started getting concerned. The pup seemed friendly, so I cautiously approached her to see if I had better luck reading her tags. She was wary of me, but with a little smooth talking, I was able to get her to stand still.
She was definitely skittish, but she seemed to be a sweet girl, and definitely a runaway (as opposed to a throwaway). She was well fed and well groomed; in fact, I thought she must have just had a bath, because she smelled clean and flowery. I called the number on her tag (the Animal Welfare League) and was told there was no one available to pick the dog up, but I was welcome to bring her in or hold on to her until someone could come to get her.
Holding on to her wasn't an option. I was smack in the middle of a move -- the condo was no longer mine, and I wasn't going back to the new house till the next morning. But taking her in was a lot to ask. It was 10 p.m., I'd been up since 5:30 a.m., I had to get my things out of the condo and drive to my in-laws' house, an hour away, to stay the night, and the Animal Welfare League was 25 minutes in the opposite direction. Not to mention that I had my own dog and a jam-packed car full of stuff.
But I couldn't just let this poor dog roam free. It was a chilly night, and there was a very busy street just a few feet away; the chances of something bad happening to this poor animal were just too great. I thought of my little Stella, at that moment sitting in her carrier in the car. How would I feel if she got out and no one did anything to help get her home? Somewhere, this little beagle had a family who was missing her, and if I could help, I had to help.
I decided to try the police, even though the man who had found the dog apparently had had no luck. I'm glad I did; they said they hadn't gotten a call that she'd been found. They had, however, received a report from the dog's owner that she was lost. I gave the dispatcher my address, took Stella's leash out of the car and walked the dog around a bit until her owner showed up.
As I waited, I began to wonder how I would know the owner. One would think that a person wouldn't try to claim a dog that wasn't theirs, but these days, you never know. Luckily, the beagle took it upon herself to let me know everything was OK; as soon as her owner was within view, she sat. And while she had been skittish with me, she very obviously knew -- and liked -- this lady, so I felt comfortable sending them on their way together.
So while I may not have gotten a chance to say a proper goodbye to McCrochety, it felt great to reunite this sweet girl with her owner. All in all, I'd say it was a very satisfying end.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
And The Sign Said Anybody Caught Trespassing Would Be Shot On Sight
We have one night left in the condo, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get a chance to tell off McCrochety.Stella, however, wanted to make sure she had her say.
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