Adventures In Writing

Homely Dog Has Got A Home!

In the terrible ice freeze of 2007, we lost one of the family pets. Lindsay hadn't been with us more than a handful of years, but my wife and son had gotten very attached to her.

We talked about getting another dog to pair up with our 120 pound black labrador for a year before Sherry and Chandler were really ready for a new dog. Sherry had owned a beagle before we got married and really enjoyed that dog. So I thought maybe the new dog should be a beagle. After all, I'd grown up with Snoopy in Peanuts. And there was something to be said for having a smaller dog since we have Max, the labrador.

As an addendum to that ice storm story, there was a funny interlude. The OG&E guys came out to our backyard to check the transformer there when all the power was out. I knew they were back there when I heard voices. Then I heard terrified yells and knew that they had met Max. In the winter with his full fur coat, Max looks even more huge.

The young guy had cleared the fence, but the older guy couldn't get over. He was pressed up against the back of the house and in fear for his life. Both of them told me they thought they had been rushed by a bear. It was funny to me because Max has never tried to hurt anyone, except for a snake he killed in the backyard.

So anyway, I made a few calls and found a beagle mix at the shelter. When Sherry and Chandler were out of school last week on the last day of winter break, they went to the shelter to look at the dog. Sherry didn't know the shelter required cash only so I had to make a trip up to give her the money.

Then I saw the dog. It's a cross between a beagle and a Basset hound. Why someone would do that, I have no clue. As you can tell from the picture, she looks like a stretch beagle, like a limousine of doghood. It's really weird, because she has short little legs though with her body length she can nearly stand up to my shoulder.

But the dog is just homely. I pictured beagles and got a totally different image. The color was way off from what I had imagined. The fact that she looks like pulled taffy is just bonus homely points.

I threatened to go look at the rest of the dogs in the shelter just to assure myself that they had indeed picked out the homeliest dog in the building. I didn't, but only because I was afraid we would end up with more than one dog that day. I usually don't go to shelters because I tend to go into rescue mode.

Needless to say, Ruby is mostly a house dog at this point, and is being babied by my wife and my son. Chandler, whose mutant power is animal attraction, has already got Ruby following him all around the house and yowling after him when he has to go to school. You'd think that dog's heart was being broken.

I'm checking around for a homely dog contest. My wife and son tell me I need to stop being mean about Ruby's looks. But when she takes home the blue ribbon, I'm going to have the last laugh.