Greg was drawn to Ginger Spice, a redbone coonhound up for adoption at Heart of America Humane Society in Kansas City, KS. His wife was not.
Greg Kincaid wrote about shelter dogs in his novel A Dog Named Christmas, and after researching the book, was inspired to adopt one himself. He's chronicling his adoption journey each week on the Petfinder blog. Read all his posts here. Most of our pets wandered onto our farm looking for dinner and then hung around for the next 80 dog years.
They picked us, and we cared for them because they needed a home. A few showed up attached to my wife, Michale Ann, or one of our kids, who was pleading, "Please ... please ... please, can I keep him?"
I'm not good at "no," so for long periods
we've had bumper crops of pets. Until I
found Petfinder, I had never had the opportunity to engage in a well thought-out selection process.
Michale Ann and I haven't had a "walk-on" for quite a few years now and we were down to only one dog, a little dachshund named Ruthie who seems surgically attached to my wife's hip. With the exodus of our now-grown children, the house has grown still, particularly in the evening hours and on weekends.
The idea that maybe I should carefully choose just the right dog for me was a concept that made its way from my subconscious and into A Dog Named Christmas. Todd, the main character, spends hours at his local animal shelter, picking just the right dog for him.
My wife said that this was a clear manifestation of my latent desire to adopt a dog. Translation: She wanted another dog.
Greg's wife preferred Sandy, a terrier at Lifeline Animal Placement and Protection in Wichita, KS.
Besides, she said, "How can you
write a book about adopting dogs and not adopt one yourself?" It's possible. It's called fiction. Did Jules Verne really take a journey to the
center of the earth?But in this particular case, I didn't mind being bamboozled. She was right. I really did want a dog, but I was adamant. It was going to be the dog I wanted!
That's how we became Petfinder junkies. Having waited so long for the privilege of choosing a dog, I wanted to be careful. We spent weeks sifting through the pictures, reading the descriptions and really thinking about this momentous choice.
I wanted a dog of substance. I love to hike, ride and jog on the trails that cut through the meadows and woods of our East Kansas farm, so my dog should enjoy being outside as much as I do. I also wanted a dog who seemed, well, manly.
Dogs like Ginger Spice, a redbone coonhound, seemed perfect to me. I bet Ginger could track down raccoons, sniff out escaped convicts and fight off the worst of the Hell's Angels, all before the first drop of morning coffee hit the bottom of the pot. I e-mailed my wife Ginger's profile. It didn't go well. "The first time you take her for a jog, she'll run off. And do you know the size of the poop that will come out of that dog?"
Michale Ann, it seemed, had something different in mind for me.
Now admittedly, her choice, Sandy, looks like a really fine dog, but my wife's selection criterion was bothering me. "Doesn't he have just the cutest face? We can go get him tonight if you want!"
The Dog Wars had begun.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Greg's adoption story next Thursday.
Previous entry:
After writing about shelters, a novelist is moved to adopt
Thanks Jean for supporting my love of the scruffy dog. A long time ago some friends of mine had a great dog that they refered to as a "Walt Disney Dog." I knew exactly what they meant and have wanted one ever since. I've had my wire hair doxies and they certainly fit the bill for being scruffy but always wanted a larger Disney dog. This is why the dog wars have taken a rather intense turn. Stay tuned.
Michale Ann, I'm with you! I foster for our shelter, the Quincy Humane Society in Quincy IL. I've been attracted to the same dogs for so long that they have a "breed" they call the "Jean Dog". The breed specifics are "1/2 a dog high, 2 dogs long, with whiskers." Over my adult years I've adopted 6 dogs total - Megan Kathleen Kenealley - a 10 lb. terrier something or other; Mugsy McDuff - a schnauzer, scottie mix; Mr. Higgins - a terrier/basset/Dr. Suess character mix; Kokomo - a terrier, space alien kind of mix; Capt. McCormack (the only foster I've adopted and the only one who might have been designed by someone) - possibly a malti-poo; and then, missing the late Mugs I fell for a puppy this summer - Clancy - a schnauzer/scottie mix. Notice all of them have whiskers. And none of them, including the perpetually mud covered Cappy, think of themselves as foo-foo dogs.
I just finished A Dog Named Christmas last night. I felt as if you were sitting next to me, telling the story. I chuckled at so many comments about "your family"; I could see all the characters (2-footed and 4-footed) very clearly. One observation: I worked as a law librarian for 9 years, so I'm surprised that your publishers had to ask for "more" of the story!
I say get them both! I really love Ginger, she's a beautiful dog. While he's out running with Ginger, you can stay home with Sandy. That sounds fair!!
Since I am being discussed in this blog I want to be clear that I LOVED Ginger and would never have rejected her. I think Greg is taking literary freedom with some of our discussion but I will admit that the scruffy faced dogs were the ones that I continually brought to his attention. You see, even now, the dog wars continue. Since I am still addicted to Petfinder.com, last night I was showing him a new possibility and it was a scruffy faced terrier mix. We may end up with a housefull, which would be my preference.