Saturday, December 4, 2010

Things We Never Thought We'd Do: Adopt a Village Mutt

I had some very good reasons for not liking dogs:

-my mom's dog nipped at my heels every time I walked into my parents' bedroom

-my sister Mandy always forced herself to gag at the sight of dog food, resulting in me feeding the dog WAY MORE than my fair share (Hey Mandy! I haven't forgotten about this!)

-doggie doo patrol was a regular part of of "being a family" (or so my mom said)



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But, on Easter 2010 I was walking from house to house visiting my favorite babies, when I came across this pretty thing. It embarrasses me to to say this, but have you ever seen a more gorgeous puppy?

I thought about her the rest of the day. And when it was nighttime, I went searching for her and brought her home.



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She made herself comfortable, and after searching for her real owner and the exchange of some cash, she was ours. We named her Sadie.

(Note to readers: The name Sadie was on our short-list of names for any potential daughters we may have in the future. I insist that using the name for a dog REMOVES the name from the potential baby list. Steve insists otherwise. It's still a point of debate around our house.)



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Sadie was willing to take time from her busy schedule to answer a few questions.

View from the North: What did you do all day as a puppy?

Sadie Alston: Steve and Angie tried barricading me in the kitchen. But, in addition to looking absolutely pitiful, I was a little escape artist. They eventually got a generously-sized kennel for me to stay in.




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VFN: Wow, being cooped up in a cage doesn't sound very fun.

SA: It wasn't. That's why I whined a lot the first few days.

VFN: Did they leave you in there all the time?

SA: No, they took me on walks.




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VFN: In the snow?

SA: I think they liked it.



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VFN: How did Steve and Angie adjust to being puppy parents?

SA: They did all right. They were obsessed with keeping me clean. Steve said something about me smelling funny. Unfortunately, Steve didn't know that I'm absolutely terrified of water. That was a fun surprise.




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VFN: Did they have all of the equipment necessary to take care of a dog.

SA: Ha! They had nothing! My first toys were pieces of rope tied in knots and soaked in beef bullion.



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VFN: That sounds rough.

SA: Angie overcompensated by buying me designer stuff. Steve was absolutely appalled, and Angie has since decided that kind of shopping is unnecessary. It was good while it lasted.

Angie With Her Puppy!

VFN: Who do you like better, Angie or Steve?

SA: Angie is nicer to me, but I like Steve better.



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VFN: Did you have any friends in Shishmaref?

SA: There were a few neighbor dogs I ran around with, but I was a little young for permanent attachments. There's nobody I keep in touch with.



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VFN: What did you do for the summer?

SA: I was going to stay in Alaska, but Grandma Alston insisted on meeting me. She said I wasn't quite as good as Steve and Angie having a baby but almost. I split my time between both sets of grandparents.

VFN: Don't Angie's parents have two ridiculously spoiled wiener dogs? How did you get along?

SA: Grandma and Grandpa Busch were afraid that I would use the tiny one as a chew toy, but I just ignored her because she yipped at me a lot (man, that was annoying!). The medium-sized one and I were great friends. She even shared her bed with me.


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VFN: What about the rest of the family?

SA: They were nice. Uncle Joe was a little weird, but I hear there's one in every family.



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VFN: Did you pick up any strange habits while visiting the Busch House?

SA: Grandma Busch helped me discover that I like to eat watermelon rinds. She would save them for me.


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VFN: What was your least favorite part of the summer?

SA: Well, there was one extremely invasive surgery. Also, Steve tried to teach me to be unafraid of water.

VFN: I didn't know Steve was a swimming instructor.

SA: He's not. His lessons basically consisted of repeatedly tossing me in the St. Joe River and making me swim to shore.



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VFN: How did you like the move to Brevig Mission?

SA: There are a lot more places to walk in Brevig Mission. Angie used to take me on walks every day.


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VFN: Used to? What happened?

SA: It got icy. I thought the ice beautifully reflected the sunsets, but Angie has this fear of falling.

VFN: Isn't that fear sort of well-founded?

SA: Definitely, given her history. Although, I personally think she's a little whiny.

VFN: Isn't it also really dark now?

SA: Yeah, Angie promises the walks will start up again once it gets lighter out. I'll believe it when I see it.



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VFN would like to apologize for degenerating into the kind of blog that spends an entire post on a dog. It was never VFN's intention to blog about a dog, let alone adopt one. Please consider continuing to read this blog. Thank you.

14 comments:

Melody said...

I am not a dog lover by any means, but wow, that is such a cute puppy! And I'm so with you that once you've used the name for a dog, it's totally off the list for a daughter. And not necessarily just because she's a dog. You wouldn't name two children the same name, would you? So it works either way--it's off the list. :)

martha1834 said...

Love it! -- Great story and a very cute puppy.

Katherine said...

That is a seriously beautiful dog!! Loved the post.

Breezi@ Not Your Average Fairytale said...

That is a pretty stinkin' cute puppy. :)
Congrats on the new addition. :)

Missy! said...

I must say, I was shocked at how quickly this post came since we waited so long for the last one...shocked in a good way, of course!

Congrats on the puppy...I'm still holding out that we won't get one. Ever. But I'm happy for you.

Kyle said...

You can still name your daughter Sadie. Absolutely.

The Rudstroms said...

Yes, that is about the cutest puppy I've ever seen.

I'm also loving your purple photos. How do you do that?

~AnnMarie

Missy said...

What a cute puppy!
And don't worry, Missy is one of the most common dog names and I've never minded. Sadie is a great choice, man or beast.

Colleen Marie said...

Sadie is OFF the baby list. Can you imagine what that would do to your kid? "Mommy and Daddy love you. And we loved the the dog. So we named you after the dog?" Puh-lease. She's not Indiana Jones!

Caroline Villa Martignoni Rebicki said...

Oh Angie! You started getting soft-hearted about puppies when you saw little Bono, go ahead, you can say it! Cute little Sadie!

nick said...

Nice post, Sadie is becoming quiet the grown up! Do you have birthday parties for Sadie? We celebrate Miles Bday and I take a cake in for my class!

Mary said...

That puppy is adorable! Thanks for sharing the story and the cute photos!

allcedars said...

What a lovely blog you have! And an adorable dog too. :)
-Meredith from Diomede

Mrs. Black said...

You realize that now that you have adopted a little girl you desperately need to :

a. do a new post about your little girl with oodles and oodles of pictures and dish about your adoption story.

or

b. Change the title of this blog post because I haven't looked at your blog in forever and at first I was completely shocked but then realized you were talking about your dog and the proceeded to die laughing.

Hope you are enjoying life little momma. Love you guys!