Penny is roughly 3-4 years old and came from a shelter, before meeting her foster mom. Through many connections, we heard about her and began the adoption process. She was in a different state, so things got complicated. Penny is a red English Cocker. They differ slightly from our own American Cockers by being a little heavier, with longer snouts. Same merry temperament.
Early in the day, we went to a mall and saw an SPCA booth. I saw one dog, all chilled out, and let him sniff me. We were good; I went to pet him and he promptly bit me. They were aghast and I walked though the mall bleeding. No serious damage. I advised they should probably not adopt this one out. He was the first pit bull I met who was aggressive. Every other one was friendly and fun.
For six weeks, we attempted to get Penny here, and failed every time, due to the weather. It's a virtual rainforest here, which ate our transportation in one bite. It finally got nice and we struck.
Unfortunately this involved the Philadelphia Airport, where signage is illegal and nobody really knows where they're going. Double parking became illegal after 9-11, further protecting us by appearing to do something. Because Philly is a city of law-abiding citizens, they no longer double park; they triple park. Penny flew first class (cargo/animal) and we began the 33 minute process of finding the incoming building. One sign, pointing in the wrong direction, and no more. When we finally found it, they pointed me next door. Next door was a depot for 30 trucks, with no door. When I flagged down an employee, he sent me back to the first place. Ah, I thought, we're experiencing the Best of Philly. Back next door, I had to flag down another employee, who was doing her level best to pretend I didn't exist. I think they're city employees, which fully explains my pretend non-existence. These folks had a 20 minute huddle in the back room, eventually bringing out a Supervisor to handle my very complicated request (that they do every day as part of their job). I kept looking around for City Hall signs... the only difference was the truck depot was cleaner and the people were damn near personable... Perhaps this is the place they send city employees that aren't nasty enough to work in City Hall. Or Parking Enforcement.
Within two minutes inside the house, she had a squeaky toy and was disemboweling it on the couch. That night she jumped on the bed and slept there. If you didn't know, you'd swear she's been here forever. You'd also swear she was a puppy... she's all over the place, exploring, running around, and showing us what we need to hide, lest she get into it. She discovered the dining room table and explored by standing on two legs and inspecting it. Within seconds, she found a way up. For a smaller dog, she has a loud, deep bark, which she uses to say hello, while furiously wagging her tail. She either flies or leaps like a grasshopper, hitting the couch from several feet out.
The rescue gave us a 30 day evaluation period. Something tells me we're going longer than 30 days. She's really a sweetheart and hopefully has found her 'forever home', as the rescue people call it. We'll lose pounds walking and keeping up with her. She's going to kill my sedentary lifestyle.
Since she's only been Penny for a few months, we wanted a better name and settled on Sybil. My wife said leave it if she already knows her name and called her. She went running. Then I called her... "Fire Engine!!!!" and she came running. I stopped there, lest she come when I call "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile."
We're hoping for Marshall's ok.
