Our Newest Addition ~ Sahara

There are cat people and there are dog people. I am now thoroughly confused as to what type of person I am thanks to a little puppy now named Sahara. I have always had a cat. I love their independent personalities, their comical ways, and their furry little faces. Mojave is what I like to call our liger. He's a big, fun, hilarious cat. We've had him since he was only a few weeks old. We found him at the Rhode Island SPCA and fell in love when we saw him hiding in a corner peeking out at us.

Now, Martin loves Mojave but he is definitely a dog person. He has always had a dog, except for the past few years, and we have been talking about getting a wagging tailed companion for some time now. We knew that we wanted to rescue a dog, but after doing some research realized that while rescuing young adult dogs is something great that we would love to do, there are alot of negatives. Many have behavioral issues that can come out after being adopted, issues with children, uniforms, etc. Many have been abused and or neglected and they can be unpredictable. We played with a year and a half year old yellow lab that we found at one particular shelter for almost two hours. He was adorable and we even got him to follow some basic commands. There was just something about his lack of eye contact, his lack of interest in humans that made us think he just wasn't the right dog for us.
We had researched about adopting puppies and found that there are extreme overages down south, especially in the midwest and the carolina's. There are high kill shelters and these groups of puppies are either euthanized or gassed since they cannot take care of them.
We had visited the Potter League in Middletown, RI last week and they informed us that each month they bring up a batch of these litters of puppies in order to get them adopted to loving homes. They had their "April batch" arrive Wednesday, quarantined them for two days to make sure they were healthy, and then they are up for adoption! We stopped by Saturday morning, walked down the brightly lit hallway, peering into rooms and seeing wagging tails, curled up dogs, and big wide eyes gazing back at us. We walked to where the puppies were being kept and there were piles of them! Warm, cozy, fuzzy piles of sleeping puppies. 24 puppies ready to be adopted.

We oohed and aahed along with the other people peeking through the windows and as we walked around the corner we saw her. She trotted right over, perched herself at the window, looking right at us, so excited to be getting attention. Her tail was going a mile a minute and after glancing at the rest of the puppies we decided to ask to take her out. As she trotted out on her rainbow leash she snuggled right up to our legs, jumping to be picked up. If dogs smiled, she definitely had a permanent grin on her adorable little face.

We took her out to the hallway, sat with her, played with her, let her lick our faces, and she was greeting every single dog and person that came her way. We took her for a walk outside, where she fought the leash. She did not understand what was tied to her neck. It was funny to watch. She tried to eat a rock before we scooped her up and got that out of her mouth. The entire time she stayed right by our sides. When she got scared by a noise or a big dog she would run to us and beg to be picked up. We brought her back inside and told the lady at the front desk that we would like to adopt her. She pulled our application that we had on file and made a few notations. Then we headed back to the room where she had been staying with her litter mates. The lady read over the identification papers and placed a yellow tag that said, "Hold - Barela". We couldn't stand to put her back in her room just yet so we headed to a visiting room where we gave her some treats, played with a tennis ball, let some cute little kids pet her, and let her climb all over us.

She eventually got tired and we regretfully brought her back to her room. She got all excited to see her litter mates again, then she realized we were leaving and she started to scratch at the window frantically. It broke my little heart.

She is a 8 week old lab mix and we originally thought she was part german shepard, but now that we have looked at different pictures of other breeds, she very well might be mixed with a beagle. Either way, she is adorable and oh so loveable. We go to puppy orientation Wednesday where we get information, fill out some paperwork, get her "papers", get to ask questions, and take her home with us forever.
The Potter League is a wonderful organization. With the adoption of a puppy you get a crate for 3 months, a bag of Science Diet puppy food, 5 weeks of puppy obedience classes, behavorial assessments for life, and all of the necessary shots, vaccinations, and deworming that puppies need. We can't wait to pick Sahara up on Wednesday night. Her crate is set up with warm bedding ready for her wriggling little body, shiny food bowls ready to be filled up, fuzzy toys that squeak ready to be chewed on, treats ready to be devoured, a trolley is hung up in the yard, and her leash and collar are ready to bring her home.