Imagine my disbelief when my youngest daughter called to tell me that she had just acquired a dog. He knew that she had always wanted one since she moved in with her family. So naturally I assumed that she would have had a puppy. Wrong! Evidently she had decided in advance that she wanted to take in a rescued dog. This may have been influenced by the fact that we had taken in a rescued Border Collie when she and her sister were very young. Therefore, he had used that experience to help her decide what to do. During the conversation, it became known that it was not a puppy, but an adult dog. In fact, he was 3 years old. I was reassured that he was not mistreated by his former owner, but that they had realized that the passing of the years had made it impossible to take him to the necessary exercise and the required walks, so they made the sensitive decision to ask to be relocated. .
So now I knew he was a he! Also that he was 3 years old, so there would be no need for home training. He had one or two annoying little features, like any dog, I suppose, begging at the table, jumping on the seat, for example. However, my daughter had embarked on a training course to eliminate these traits as soon as possible. So why did he have to call me who couldn’t wait?
After the usual niceties, the bomb arrived. “Can I change your name?” he asked cautiously. “Why would you want to do that?” I responded with a question! Because his name is … Scrappy! There was silence as I digested what I had heard and my daughter waited for the answer. “You mean Scrappy-Do?” I proposed. “Erm … yeah” she replied. After a few awkward seconds, we both spontaneously burst out laughing. My daughter reminded me that years before she had bought a Dalmatian puppy as a gift for my wife when our Border Collie cross died. Aside from the fact that I had ignorantly complained to the salesman that he had no spots (Dalmatians don’t develop spots until a few weeks after birth), I insisted on calling him Spot. That was a great idea until the first time I had to call him in public, only to be met with laughter from passersby!
Anyway, she brought him to meet me. It’s a Bijon Frize and it looked a lot like a little sheep with a curly pig’s tail. However, he had a wonderful temperament, and besides, my daughter had gotten rid of the dreaded Puppy Potty training that is necessary with puppies. We talked a bit about her decision to have a mature dog instead of a puppy. It occurred to me that your considerations are probably the same as many people these days, where time is a precious commodity. It just made the best sense overall. These were your considerations that made your decision.
No potty training was required for the puppies to go to the bathroom. It did not require vaccinations, adjustment on time, or special diet. Also, my daughter felt she was doing something to help alleviate the rehousing problems that dog homes and kennels have with older dogs. I must say that when I think about his call, it now makes perfect sense for a busy working family to consider having a mature dog rather than a puppy along with the social responsibility it demonstrates.
I know that if I decide to bring another dog, I will almost certainly visit the local rescue center first.
