John and I had been looking high and low for a rescue dog, and when we spoke with many of the rescues we were disqualified based on the fact that we work... And no amount of convincing about the geography of our jobs - the fact that I can WALK to work etc could wrangle a favorable mark on our Doggie Resume.
Initially we had been looking at Yorkies, but widened our approach and found that many of the animal welfare societies are rather corrupt, and that any small dog that we could find inevitably would already be "promised" to someone else... It was so discouranging!
Our next turn was to the classfieds. Although we had concerns about backyard breeders and sad stories, we were heart set on finding a pup to call our own. We went through the process of driving from here to crazy places throughout the CT area and had 2 "purchases" fall through, where the owners of the dogs decided that they would either keep the dog, or give it to someone else in their family - mostly because the 2 dogs in question were from families that had small children that were quite attached to the dogs... The second time that it happened I was devestated. I had come home from work early to jump in the car and get our new dog - it was a 7 month old Shih Tzu - and got the fateful call that they had good news and bad news - which was really bad news to me, and good news to them, that they were keeping their dog... I felt snakebitted.
Growing up I had adopted a Bichon from the local dog pound and had a fantastic experience. John had been raised with a black lab, and two Saint Bernards. All of our dogs led long happy lives - and nothing we could do would bring us a bundle of joy.
I began cold calling every small dog listed in the classifieds and at the end of the ads was the one for Chewie. It was a whim, but we decided that a phonecall wouldn't hurt anyone - and chances were he would have already been purchased (almost all of the small dogs listed in the classifieds around here are gone within the first few hours). I braced myself for heartbreak - as I entered the Yorkie train of thought all over again.
As I dialed the phone number I remembered all of the wanting that I had for a Yorkie, and the fact that on the other end of the phone line someone would be able to determine if we would get the dog...
Winds up the dog was still available - and they would meet us that same night to show us the dog. Chewie wasn't much of a bundle of joy when we purchased him, he was jumpy and unable to be calmed down by either us or the previous owners. But in the stroke of a moment I looked and John for a seal of approval and did the deal. We brought Chewie home with us that night and prayed that we had made the right decision.
I'm not certain what the whole story was with the people who owned him before, but he has really come around and become a phenomenal little guy. His name was Skippy - but he didn't respond to it when we first brought him home, so we've renamed him Chewbacca and he's beginning to get the hang of his name...
We were nervous with a 2 and a half year old dog - and when we first brought him home there were some issues with marking in the house (he's not fixed...) which quickly ended, and we can honestly say that his few accidents have been just that - accidents. Heck, we're still working our our "routine" here!
He's been fully vetted (we went away on a one week vacation and left him at the vet for boarding - they vetted him fully while he was there!) And now his next appointment will be for a neutering.
Hindsight is 20/20, and I doubt that I would buy a dog out of the classifieds again. I was just SO desperate! And so fortunate that Chewie turned out to be the little personality that he is!
For those of you with concerns regarding if he was a stolen or lost dog - the first day that we had him he visited the local animal shelter and was checked for tattoos and microchips, ran against the databases etc.. And we requested the same from our veterinarian. He's ours
Okay, we've had a busy night here with company visiting and lots of playing. Too bad I'm all tuckered out and Chewie just grabbed his "Bad Cuz" toy to play! Looks like we're all off to sleep - dreaming of the long walk that we'll take in the morning and the little Yorkie downstairs named Bella!
-Christina