A little problem last night

Having had an early lunch with my mother before seeing "Jersey Boys," I followed up with an early dinner. That meant around 9:30, I traipsed downstairs for a hummus roll up before pushing through with the writing until close to 11:00. Of course, Radar salivated for a bit of the sun-dried tomato tortilla that held the whole thing (hummus, onion, green and red pepper) together. Although I was careful, as always, he found an opening and went for it, pulling the edge of the as-yet-unrolled tortilla toward him and off the counter. I caught it but not before some of the vegetables fell onto the floor and he got a big tongue full of the hummus. I yelled, so he got defensive and wouldn't let me near the mess on the floor. Because he doesn't like onions or peppers, it was a fruitless ambush for him, but he didn't know that until it was too late. After a few seconds, after he calmed down, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the kitchen. He snapped and whined, catching only my wrist from his awkward angle. I closed the door all the way except for about an inch so he could see me clean it up and finish making/eating the sandwich and regret his indiscretion. He didn't bark, he didn't whine, he didn't walk away. He stood there and took it like a man. After salvaging what was left of my sandwich, I ate it in the kitchen to avoid further conflict. Then let him out and went back upstairs. He was repentant and clingy all night, cuddling into my stomach as if it were ten degrees outside.

Christmas tree disposal

I would like to take this opportunity on Radar's behalf to thank everyone in the neighborhood for dragging their Christmas trees to the curb last night. There is nothing like having a composite history of the past month of everyone's household placed at the foot of the driveway for easy evaluation. In the holiday spirit, he's left a little gift under each tree.

Second Meeting Just as Good

Ryan came by today for a couple of hours. Emma came in and right away Radar tried to sniff her in a way that she didn't like. I was hugging Ryan (the whole thing happened within seconds of Ryan putting her down) so I didn't see what Ray tried to do, but Emma gave him a definitive bark and he stopped whatever it was he was doing. Radar was all excited to have guests in the house, like always, so he ran around for a while, somewhat independently of Emma, who was running around and sniffing quite actively on her own. As Ryan and I moved to the sofa, the dogs settled on the rug where the flip chews were. Emma began chewing right away, which seemed to confuse Radar because those were his discards. Suddenly, they were interesting again. So funny.

Emma disappeared into the dining room and was silent long enough for us to figure out that the silence was probably a bad thing. We discovered her pooping under the table. Ryan was really apologetic, but that's what dogs do in strange places. No big deal. We let the dogs out into the back yard and I cleaned up the mess.

Emma loved the backyard--she pooped again as soon as she got out there. Like she had done in the house, she found and dug up all of Radar's treasures which, again, amazed him. As she dug up and re-dug his bounty, he stood behind her staring. Such chaos to his world! They chased each other around until Ryan and I got too cold to stand outside and brought them in.

Once back inside, the dogs stretched out on the floor and chewed their respective toys. I took some pictures of them (see below) and twenty minutes later, Ryan took her home. Like last week, Radar showed no jealousy of me when I cuddled Emma. If he had any altered behavior at all, it was the heightened curiosity of the stranger in our midst; however, it would be strange if he didn't feel that way.






I gave her a little of Radar's home made food. She gobbled it down but left the carrots, which Radar nudged in and finished. Overall, I was tickled by the energy in the house when she was here and am feeling better and better about the adoption.

I'm going to pick her up next Friday evening and we will try a weekend sleep over. Three in a bed might change the dynamic.

Then again...

I went to the pet store today and bought a collar, smaller harness, and leash splitter. Unless something goes really wrong, I am going to adopt her. I've decided. There is no reason not to. There is very little downside. And, once I began to think that Radar's natural state would be to have other dogs around, I began to feel much better about this all. The biggest risk is not taking one. So, I'm looking forward to seeing how the dogs do together in my house this weekend.

On Second Thought

Lots of second thoughts today. When I saw Diana and Vaughn I hinted heavily to them that I wasn't going to take her. I expect that will get back to Ryan pretty quickly. I hope it does. That was the point.

Success!

Right before I left for Ryan's, I caught 5 minutes of a movie on Sundance (or was it IFC?) with Giovanni Ribisi. In the scene I saw, he was talking to a girl in a doorway about not taking a risk on love (he happened to be holding a dog at the time). In light of my hesitancy, those lines seemed like a sign of some sort. In my fear of changing or losing the love Radar and I share, I'm turning my back on the potential for additional love. That seems so stupid. If I wouldn't advise a person to do that in regards to another person, how can I refuse to consider it with a dog? I'm nuts sometimes. Overthinking way too much.

In any event, the big new: Radar and the beagle yet to be renamed got along. I was going to say they got along swimmingly, but they basically ignored each other, which for a first meeting was pretty good.

We got to Ryan's with no problem and sat in the living room for a while chatting about Emma's health and behavior as Radar tentatively explored the house. After about 10-20 minutes, we decided to take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. At first, Ryan walked Emma and I walked Radar, but after two blocks, Ryan handed her leash to me and I walked both dogs. Walking them together is one of my big worries, so I was delighted to find that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Yes, they both pulled a little, as beagles are wont to do, but Emma was relatively responsive on the leash, so the dogs kept roughly the same pace.

Back at Ryan's, Emma was much more affectionate with me, cuddling and licking, without any jealousy from Radar, so that was another good sign. We left after about another 15 minutes.

All in all, I was very pleased and encouraged by the meeting. We are going to try again next weekend at my house, so I guess this is still moving ahead as planned.

Feeling Guilty

This afternoon, I will take Radar to meet his potential new sister. She is living with my friend Ryan whose partner found her in the street in the West End. They have tried valiantly to find her rightful owners, but over a week has past and she is readjusting to her new surroundings. From what Ryan tells me, she may have been abused or neglected by her previous owners. She has a hot spot on her hip and calluses on her head, perhaps from being kept in a crate that was too small for her size. She is a 13 inch beagle. Ryan already has a dog, a Rottweiler, but isn’t ready to take on another, smaller, dog. Ryan’s vet says that the new beagle is basically healthy, without fleas, mites or worms, so rather than rush the private adoption, we have all decided to introduce Radar to the new beagle over the course of the next three weeks. If all goes well, she will move in with us the weekend of January 24.

I named Radar after the equipment, not the MASH character, because nothing escapes his beagle nose. Likewise, I think I may name our new dog Miss Marple after the Agatha Christie detective. Of course, I will have to meet her first to determine if the name suits her, but according to Ryan, she is very genteel and ladylike.

I’m still struggling with the decision whether or not to take in another dog, so much so that I am lavishing more attention than usual on Radar. He doesn’t seem to notice. He just soaks it up and readjusts his expectations for the future. Consequently,I'm afraid that when he attention levels are cut in half, he will be disappointed later.

Again, the weather this morning is overcast and, though presently it is not raining, the air is saturated with moisture. On days like this, Radar sleeps late, lounges longer and generally acts loagy and arthritic. He actually may be developing arthritis, but he has behaved this way on rainy days (like a lot of people do) since he was a puppy, so I am not overly concerned. I say “overly” because, for the past two or three days, I have been seeing every little movement or glance as a potential sign that I shouldn’t welcome another dog into the pack. But, these are my fears not his, and again I find myself on the edge between egocentric anthropomorphizing and rational understanding of animal emotion.

In any event, I will probably turn down an invitation to watch a movie with friends tonight so I can spend as much quality time with Radar as I can after meeting Miss Marple this afternoon and before she joins us permanently. Not sure which assuages my guilt more, staying home with my dog or finding him a partner.