This is Penny. She's an unknown breed and unknown age. She didn't have a name and her "foster family" didn't know where she came from. She's had no shots, not spayed, and has probably never seen a vet. She growls, barks, bites and isn't potty trained. Well, gee, that's everything that we didn't want in a dog! But, she's cute and soft, so she's becoming a Schumacher. Deep Sigh.
We've been keeping our eyes out for an adult golden retriever to adopt. My friend who volunteers for a dog rescue agency suggested that we find a new dog for our kids since they are still so sad that Sandy died. I told her we're actually looking around a bit, but haven't been looking hard yet. We are hoping to get one this summer. She said she'd look for me.
My crazy dog friend sent me a lot of announcements for dogs who need homes, mostly puppies. This has been going on for weeks! None of them excited me until she sent one for a pregnant homeless golden. She was pretty! But I wouldn't want any of her pups, just her. I applied for her through the rescue agency and discovered someone else already claimed her to adopt. Oh well. Then she had 11 puppies. Two were blond females, so Lisa put my name on one for us to adopt when they were ready. As it turned out, we didn't get one of the puppies. Like I said, Oh well.
Sunday morning she called me, sent texts, and facebook messages (I don't take my phone, tablet or laptop to bed with me) so when I woke up and looked at my messages I saw she was very excited to get ahold of me for something! She sent me a link to a Craigslist Ad for Penny. The ad said they wanted to "rehome" the puppy since they couldn't keep her and they wanted $25 for her.
I replied to the ad and the seller replied back to me. The ad had been online for 14 hours and she had been bombarded with replies, everyone wanted to take her in. My reply happened to have good timing and I wrote that we have 3 kids in our house and we had a dog who died of cancer and old age. She liked me from my email. I literally wrote three sentences! She said I could pick up the dog that day and suggested a park. I chose one halfway between us, and I was familiar with the park, and told her we want to meet the dog before we commit 100%.
Lexie and I loaded up the kids and told them we might be bringing home a puppy. But if the puppy has fleas, or obvious health issues, we're not bringing it home. Plenty of other offers for it if we don't like it.
Turns out, the people were really nice and the puppy was sweet. She didn't bite anyone at the park and she was playful and happy. The kids liked her too. So, we gave the lady some cash and brought her home!
The family that had her said they had her for one day, but they had to find her a new home because they have two old dogs and they work full time and aren't home enough to take care of a puppy. They got her from their relatives who had her for a month. The relatives (one was at the park with them) found her alone under a car in the rain. It did rain a month ago around Christmas time, so that sounded truthful. They said the puppy seemed healthy while they had her, but they never did figure out where she came from. They also couldn't keep her forever, so they gave her to this lady who said she could probably find her a home fairly easily. One Craigslist ad later, and here she is. They said they think she is a "Boulder Retriever". They insisted that was the breed. They said, yes, boulder, like rocks. They joked that they wondered if those dogs brought you big rocks. I am not a dog professional, but it sounded to me like they didn't know what breed she was and I wasn't so sure if that was an actual breed. We are guessing Golden Retriever and Border Collie mix. But, who knows.
I told the kids we would keep her on a temporary basis until we decide if she's going to like us and we're going to like her. Yeah, that comment bounced right off of them! The kids named her Penny right away and she snuggled right in.
She is playful and happy, but she also snuggles. I think she'll be a good fit for the family. The kids are really happy with her and as soon as she's house trained, I'll like her a lot better too. I'm looking for inexpensive vet care and trying to teach the kids how to react to her puppy antics.
Welcome, Penny. You're a Schumacher now!
What happened to all the specifics you were requiring. One big baleful look and you must have melted. She looks like a Sandy type dog, another plus. Get out your Sandy baby pics and compare. She will have fun exciting all my neighbor dogs when she comes to visit next summer.
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