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.