About a year ago I was tooling around Netflix’s streaming television and, purely out of boredom, started watching a National Geographic Channel show called Dogtown.

Dogtown was, as it says on the tin, about dogs:  the dog facility of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, where hundreds of dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals find homes when no one else will take them in.  The trainers and caregivers at Dogtown dedicate themselves to rehabilitating and finding homes for some of the toughest cases – in fact, they were the people who took in the Michael Vick dogs when even the animal rights community claimed fighting dogs could never be saved.  Best Friends proved the skeptics wrong, and Dogtown chronicles their work with the “Vicktory” dogs as well as many others.

I’d never been what I’d call a dog person – I had a dog as a child but you know how that goes.  “Mommy!  I want a dog! I promise I’ll take care of her OH LOOK A BUNNY!” Back then people didn’t really work with dogs much – you got one, put it in the back yard, and that was it.  Maybe she learned to sit or roll over.

Watching the amazing work the folks at Best Friends did I felt something switch on in me, and I started learning more about dog training and care, on the chance that someday a dog came into my life.  Months later when I learned more about Austin Pets Alive! - an organization that’s dedicated to eradicating shelter euthanasia of adoptable pets, and works from many of the same principles as Best Friends – I decided to volunteer.  I was unemployed and though I was writing a lot I felt I needed something useful to do with my free time.

My work with APA! is mostly behind the scenes in marketing – part of the genius behind APA! is that they do everything they can to help a dog find a forever home including website profiles – so when new dogs come into the system I get to see their pictures long before the public does.

About two weeks ago we did a huge intake from a nearby shelter and I saw that one of the dogs was listed as a “Corgi/Pit bull mix.”

My brain kind of sprained itself trying to picture that.  I thought, I have to see this dog – she must be really funny looking.  A few days later, pictures of the dog came through my inbox.  Sure enough, she was a little odd – a black/brown brindle with a pittie’s head (sort of) and a low-slung Corgi-esque body (sort of).  I wasn’t sure if their description was accurate – there are about 10 breeds that look like they went into her makeup – but for some reason I couldn’t stop staring at this dog.  I saved her picture to my desktop, and there it sat for a week.

On MLK Day APA! had a special adoption rate discounted to a mere $20 for animals over 3 months.  I thought, “What could it hurt to go meet her?”

Upshot:  I now have a dog.

This is Kylie.

I have no idea what her life was like before she found me; she was picked up as a stray, a year old, unsprayed.  APA! neuters all animals that come into their shelter, give a dog all her shots, heartworm tests, rabies tags, a microchip, you name it.  They’re committed to the animals they save – for life.  They have a behavior team, a medical team, and resources ready to help adopters settle into life with dog, and they’ve been an AMAZING help to me.

Kylie, you see, is a fantastic dog:  she loves people, even children; she walks calmly on leash; she does pretty well in her crate at night and when I leave; and she’s mostly housetrained, though we’re still working out the kinks.  She came to me pre-loaded with a lot of basic training (either that or I’m just an awesome dog trainer and had no idea), so within a day she was sitting, coming when called, and high-fiving.

Only problem is the cats.  Kylie, Owen, and Stella have a lot of work to do before we have household harmony.  She doesn’t try to hurt them, but she does love to chase them – I’m waiting for one of the cats to haul off and smack the crap out of her to show her who’s boss.  I don’t leave them alone together, because who knows? I don’t want to risk any injury to either side of the equation.  We’re taking things slow, but I can tell just by what a good dog she is that they’ll figure it out eventually.  In the meantime I’m watching her like a hawk and teaching her that I’m the house leader – I don’t go in for that domination/submission model of dog training, but I definitely understand that a dog needs to know you’ve got things handled, so they can just relax and be dogs.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to become a dog blogger – I might write about our adventures from time to time, but the main reason I wanted to share Kylie’s arrival is that, well, it’s a huge deal for me, but also, just a week with her has made a huge difference in my emotional wellbeing.  Having a routine, getting outside and walking, having something besides my whacked-out mind to concentrate on, has helped me come out of my most recent depressive swing, and no matter how our relationship unfolds, I’ll always be grateful to Kylie for that.  She’s a great dog, and we’re going to have so much fun together.

Now if I can just get her to stop humping my leg.*

If you’re interested in Best Friends, you can learn all about them on their website, watch Dogtown on Netflix, and also order their awesome guide Dog Tips from Dogtown: a Relationship Manual for You and Your Dog. Their storefront also has everything from treats and toys (for dogs and cats) to pet responsibility charts for kids.

If you live in the Austin area and are looking for a new family member, Austin Pets Alive! has dozens of amazing dogs and cats who are looking for you, too.  Save a life!

*Note:  Don’t worry, I know why she does that, and I’m working with her not to feel like she has to mark me as her territory.  I’ve done my homework.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.