Introducing Tracker

Today, Dan and I made a very big, very exciting commitment: We added another member to our family!

Her name is Tracker and she is a German Shorthaired Pointer who just steals your heart. Talk about puppy dog eyes…

Our relationship with Tracker began yesterday when we went to the Capital Humane Society with my sister. Dan and I were both in agreement that any dog we got would come from the humane society — why not save a life? — but we didn’t plan on getting a dog now.

Immediately upon walking into the dog adoption room, Dan and I were both drawn to a #199. She was sitting quietly just looking up while the surrounding dogs were barking and jumping. We took down her assigned number and asked to take her into the “interaction room.”

There, she was even more cute and lovable. She’d was content to come rest her head on Dan’s lap, but also had a good bit of spunk. We learned that she is a 3-5 year old girl who had been found on July 11. Because there was never any word from a family, the humane society got her ready for adoption and named her “Helen.”

Basically, she was just asking for love.

Still “looking for a dog for my parents,” we checked out a few more dogs. But, when Dan and I walked back into the adoption room, “Helen” was still sitting there looking cute.

This time, though, she had her blanket in her mouth as if to say, “I’m all packed and ready to go!”

We were sold… The only thing left to do was figure out the logistics. Immediately upon getting back to my house, we worked everything out and decided we definitely, 100% wanted to take her home. Unfortunately, by that point, the humane society was closed for the night. That meant we had to wait until 11:30 the next morning to make it official.

At 11:15 sharp, Dan, my sister and I showed up back at the humane society ready to sign the papers.

Right when the sign flipped from “closed” to “open,” we were through the door. No way anyone else was going to ge their hands on our dog!

It’s a good thing we were prompt, too. There were a few people who came in after us asking to see the same dog.

Sorry.

Right around noon, it was official: She is our dog!

Then, because she is a dog and not an 80-year-old woman, we changed her name to “Tracker.”*

Unfortunately, the humane society has experienced a little outbreak of parvovirus, which can be deadly to dogs. To cut contamination, the shelter hadn’t been taking the dogs outside. We could tell that Tracker was excited to get some fresh air!

Before going home, we made a stop by PetCo to get some dog necessities — as well as spoil her with some gifts.

Then, it was out for Tracker’s first run. We quickly discovered that she’s a speedster.

She also held up really well for a few miles, considering that she may never have run before!

Since then, we’ve just been getting her settled — until we take her down to Kansas and introduce her to her new home!

Questions: Are you a dog person? Cat person? Ferret person? (They have ‘em all at the humane society!)

*”Helen” is a very lovely human name.