The beginning (Post 1)

I always knew I wanted to adopt a dog, and as my first year of grad school came to a close, I started to entertain the idea more seriously. Now, of course the idea of having a dog--an adventure-partner for hikes, a cuddle-buddy for when I'm stressed, a built in best friend-- sounds amazing, but I spent a good amount of time considering, What would it really look like for me to have a dog?
These were some of the questions I asked myself:

• I thrive with schedules, and yet also value spontaneity. How would having a dog throw a wrench into my existing routines and preferences? 
• I lead a very active and busy life--often leaving my house around 8:30am and not arriving back home until close to 8pm. How would I feel altering my routine to accommodate the needs of a dog--who I could obviously never leave alone for more than 8 hours? Would I really have time to go to the gym or to a spin or yoga class with a dog waiting at home? 
• In many ways, second year of grad school is known to be the busiest. Is getting a dog the summer before teaching, clinical work, and the bulk of my master's thesis begins really a smart idea? 

I reflected. I talked to friends. I talked to other grad students with pets. On a whim, I even ran the idea by my PhD advisor and her enthusiastic response ("I think you should totally get a dog") served as informal, final confirmation that it was worth seriously looking into. I took my research to the next phase... the internet!

I consulted adoption and shelter websites, read articles on various blogs, and took several quizzes with titles like, Are you really ready to adopt a pet? I could easily confirm several of the most basic pet adoption pre-requisites: My apartment allows animals. I have saved enough money to cover supplies, food, and medical bills. I am willing to put in the time to train him/her. I have spent a ton of time with lots of different types of dogs. This meant that the next serious consideration was what type of dog (breed, temperament, age) made the most sense for me. On this topic, I had many important thoughts...

I knew I wanted to adopt an adult dog and not a puppy. Puppies are adorable when they are puppies, but you have no idea of the personality they will have once they've grown up or needs that they may develop as they age. By adopting an adult dog, I would be giving myself a much better chance at finding a dog whose temperament and needs fit my own while also "helping" the adoption system (since puppies tend to find homes more easily). Here were my primary considerations:

• I was looking for a dog that was small to medium sized (based on the size of my apartment) 
• I hoped to find a dog who would enjoy an active lifestyle (hikes, long walks, the occasional jog), but did not need hours of exercise every day 
• I hoped to find a dog who was loving and attentive, but did not have separation anxiety issues and would be okay being home alone for a work-day. 
• I hoped to find a dog who was NOT prone to excessive barking/howling. 

I knew that I could provide a wonderful, loving life to a dog with these qualities... the only thing standing in my way now was finding him/her! Next stop.... Petfinder!

The Petfinder website is a dog-seeker's dream! The postings made by ALL shelters and adoption agencies across the country are searchable on the site, which saves you the trouble of looking up adoptable pets on individual shelter/organization websites.

The search engine allows you to enter certain criteria like age (puppy, young, adult, senior), size (small, medium, large, extra large), special needs (cat friendly, dog friendly, good with kids), in addition to a search location. The site then provides you with compatible profiles, most of which have pictures and descriptions about temperament. The profiles are usually very honest about a dog's particular needs ("needs a big yard to run around in" or "will need help potty training" or "has separation anxiety issues"). I scoured the website, checking obsessively, reading and re-reading dog profiles. As someone who was recently involved in online dating, I can tell you that I invested about 100x more energy in the search for the perfect dog than I did searching for the perfect guy! 

 

In the end, I sent in three applications and waited. I heard back from one shelter that Sally, a sheltie shepphard mix who seemed wonderful, was in the final stages of adopting. I received notification that my application for Jack had been been received and would be reviewed within 2 weeks. And I never heard back about a border collie retriever mix named Olive. With two weddings right around the corner and no luck with my first set of applications, I decided that it might be a good idea to wait until the middle of June to continue my search. Then, the Friday that one of my best friends, Emily, was visiting from out of town, I received a text message at 8:03am...