Guster The Wonder Dog
So I got a new job about a month ago. I am working with some colleagues from a prior firm and there's a lot more control over my work day. So a couple weeks into the new job a good opportunity arose with a great group of folks at One Tail at a Time(tm) and I adopted a new buddy.
Meet Guster Boomer II McNaughton (née Garrity) (a.k.a. "Guster")
I had been wanting a dog for a few years. But when I was still with my ex, we lived in a place that didn't allow dogs. After I got my condo, I was in a job that had weekly travel much of time.
I got a new job a month ago. Things fell into place quickly. I looked at a number of potential adoptions, both at the center and being fostered. My good friend Serena and her 6-yr daughter came with me. When we met Guster, he was so excited and friendly, but chilled out immediately when Frankie was a little shy with her broker arm in a sling. Of all the many friendly dogs we saw, he really resonated with me. Both in how he sensed her discomfort and toned down his own play style, and the fact that he was so well socialized with other dogs, with all people, and even with cats based on his prior time at a recent foster. Guster is VERY friendly. He's so sweet. He's likely a Boxer / Pit mix. He is probably around two years old.
I learned he had been found by animal control in early March, and had pneumonia, a rash and a lot of bugs and parasites. After some time in the animal hospital with a lot of treatment he got well enough to be fostered for the last few weeks . Once he was healthy enough, they neutered him a week or so before I met him. He was in a cone, and he didn't like it. He was adorable.
I was going to Milwaukee on that day, however, and going out of town the next weekend. I decided to hold off on adopting any dog. I said, "you know, there will be other dogs." But I knew if I wasn't so busy, I'd have adopted him right that day. As I was heading to the interstate to head up to Milwaukee my phone rang. It was Serena calling me back. "Hey," she said, "If you want to adopt that dog we met, we'll watch him the next couple weekends while you're out of town."
Before she finished speaking I was already doing a U-turn on the side road to head back to the adoption center. "Sounds like a plan. I'm going to adopt him." It was that simple.
The day I took Guster home from the adoption center. He still had the Cone of Shame (tm) because they snipped his bits off.
Because most of the staff was gone, I had to foster him and I couldn't adopted him officially until the following Tuesday. That was July 30. It was the date my mother passed away in 1994, and the date I adopted my last dog, Boomer, back in 1999. I find it a lovely coincidence that both my dogs have the same birthday and it seems to make karmic good sense. You find meaning where you can.
I have to admit, as much as I put up a positive front... I have been filled with a lot of anger and sadness for quite some time. The breakup with my ex was fine last year until I learned the truth about his affair and years of manipulation and deceit. I cut him out of my life after the holdiays but the negative emotions remained. Having a job which felt like an anchor did not help my mood either. Although I knew I was moving forward, there were a lot of things weighing heavily on me.
But now a lot of things have changed. Between a better fit with my new work environment and getting Guster... Serena put it best. "You are smiling all the time," she texted me.
She's right.
Don't be fooled. He gets car sick reaaaaallly easy.
So in the last year I've gotten my first home, changed jobs and gotten a doggie. I really feel this period of transition is turning into a period of the "new normal" with things as they are now.
I am content. Moving forward.
Meet Guster Boomer II McNaughton (née Garrity) (a.k.a. "Guster")
I had been wanting a dog for a few years. But when I was still with my ex, we lived in a place that didn't allow dogs. After I got my condo, I was in a job that had weekly travel much of time.
I got a new job a month ago. Things fell into place quickly. I looked at a number of potential adoptions, both at the center and being fostered. My good friend Serena and her 6-yr daughter came with me. When we met Guster, he was so excited and friendly, but chilled out immediately when Frankie was a little shy with her broker arm in a sling. Of all the many friendly dogs we saw, he really resonated with me. Both in how he sensed her discomfort and toned down his own play style, and the fact that he was so well socialized with other dogs, with all people, and even with cats based on his prior time at a recent foster. Guster is VERY friendly. He's so sweet. He's likely a Boxer / Pit mix. He is probably around two years old.
I learned he had been found by animal control in early March, and had pneumonia, a rash and a lot of bugs and parasites. After some time in the animal hospital with a lot of treatment he got well enough to be fostered for the last few weeks . Once he was healthy enough, they neutered him a week or so before I met him. He was in a cone, and he didn't like it. He was adorable.
I was going to Milwaukee on that day, however, and going out of town the next weekend. I decided to hold off on adopting any dog. I said, "you know, there will be other dogs." But I knew if I wasn't so busy, I'd have adopted him right that day. As I was heading to the interstate to head up to Milwaukee my phone rang. It was Serena calling me back. "Hey," she said, "If you want to adopt that dog we met, we'll watch him the next couple weekends while you're out of town."
Before she finished speaking I was already doing a U-turn on the side road to head back to the adoption center. "Sounds like a plan. I'm going to adopt him." It was that simple.
The day I took Guster home from the adoption center. He still had the Cone of Shame (tm) because they snipped his bits off.
Because most of the staff was gone, I had to foster him and I couldn't adopted him officially until the following Tuesday. That was July 30. It was the date my mother passed away in 1994, and the date I adopted my last dog, Boomer, back in 1999. I find it a lovely coincidence that both my dogs have the same birthday and it seems to make karmic good sense. You find meaning where you can.
I have to admit, as much as I put up a positive front... I have been filled with a lot of anger and sadness for quite some time. The breakup with my ex was fine last year until I learned the truth about his affair and years of manipulation and deceit. I cut him out of my life after the holdiays but the negative emotions remained. Having a job which felt like an anchor did not help my mood either. Although I knew I was moving forward, there were a lot of things weighing heavily on me.
But now a lot of things have changed. Between a better fit with my new work environment and getting Guster... Serena put it best. "You are smiling all the time," she texted me.
She's right.
Don't be fooled. He gets car sick reaaaaallly easy.
So in the last year I've gotten my first home, changed jobs and gotten a doggie. I really feel this period of transition is turning into a period of the "new normal" with things as they are now.
I am content. Moving forward.