From a Tennessee Ditch to Ann Arbor

I always knew we'd get another dog after Chance died, and Linda and I had talked about it with increasing frequency in the months since we lost him. She was very open to getting an adult shelter dog, while I was much more interested in getting a puppy. We were a bit reluctant to get another pure-bred dog, in part because of the virtual impossibility that any purebred would be free of all the various genetically-determined health problems that most breeds suffer from.

We started going to the local Humane Society of Huron Valley in December to look for another family member, but initially it was for a cat or kitten. As the days went by and Christmas approached, several trips to the shelter yielded nothing of the feline variety. One of the fruitless visits was on Thursday before New Year's, and I was told by a Humane Society staffer that they were scheduled to take delivery of a litter of lab/shepherd mix puppies the next day. Because of the high adoption rate at the Huron Valley shelter, they have an ongoing relationship with smaller shelters down south, and this particular batch of puppies was coming from Tennessee. They had been found abandoned in a drainage ditch—not even in a box—shortly before coming north. They were thought to be just over 8 weeks old.

The shelter announced in a Facebook posting that the puppies would be ready for public visits on Saturday, December 31, and the photos they included only increased our eagerness to see them. We got to the Humane Society 15 minutes before it officially opened, but even so the vestibule was already filled with people with the same goal as ours. We feared that by the time I finished filling out the required paperwork they would all be adopted, so Linda went with the crowd in hopes of forestalling that event. Our fears were groundless; several of the puppies were still available by the time I'd handed in the forms, and we quickly zeroed in on one tan male with a black muzzle. We took him into the private visitation room, and he seemed to respond to us positively, and we certainly did to him. He was inquisitive, bright-eyed, and active without being crazy. We said yes.

He's extremely affectionate, great with all the adults and kids he's met, and friendly and playful with other dogs. He has a tendency to get underfoot, and we have to be careful lest we trod on his toes (which has happened several times) or take a tumble over him. Hence his name: Trip.