Who Adopted Who?

I was just going to look at the puppies. I wasn't going to adopt I told myself. I had just lost Daisy and it had shattered me. She was a pug-shitzu mix. I had loved her dearly. I still had Taffy and she was so old. I was worried she might pass soon as well. I would be alone in a dogless home. I had Daisy for 16 years and Taffy for 15 years. They had both been through moves, losses and a great deal of life with me.

I pulled into the small shelter in the small town about 40 minutes from where I lived. I walked in and introduced myself.

"Hi," I told the the robust lady with blonde hair. "I'm Kim. I am just here to look at the puppies that were on facebook."

She smiled. "Okay, follow me." She led me back through a door and there in the kennels were some very spry and fluffy puppies.

I knew then I was going to adopt.

"I would like a female," I told her. Females had been easier for me in the past to train. "The runt." I was always a girl to go for the underdog. I pointed to one of the smallest puppies in the litter. The rest of them were so much bigger. At least three times bigger.

"I am sorry. She is spoken for," she told me. She pointed to some other pups in the litter that were female. They weren't calling to me. I bent down and looked in. I pointed to a little puppy huddled in the corner, away from his siblings. He was much smaller than his siblings. He was very much apart from the others.

"What about that one?" I pointed to the shivering puppy.

"Well it isn't a female," she told me. "Him and the little female get bulldozed by the other puppies, I have to feed them separately and let them nurse away from the other pups. To be honest, I didn't know if he was going to make it."

"Can I hold him?" My heart was in my throat. Something about that little guy was reaching deep into my soul and I wanted to hold him and smell his puppy smell. She went into the kennel and came out with the pup. I took him and put him to my chest and....he got puppy shit on my arms. I looked at her and smiled. "This is the one." She laughed.

I have had Poe now for almost two years. Taffy has since passed and Poe has been my constant companion. I thought he would be a small dog. He is a medium very oddly built dog. He failed dog training school. Did great through the training and the day of the test, he acted like he had lost his mind. He is scared of big black trashcans and he loves to go to the park sniff everything and then go to Starbucks afterwards for a pup cup. I got him in February before the pandemic. He has been my sidekick and my cuddler ever since. He is the most difficult dog I have owned and yet...we go together like peas and carrots. When I am sad he is there. When I am sick he knows and lays with me. The last few years have been difficult and I can't imagine how I would have handled the many things that happened besides a pandemic without my sweet boy.

I often wonder who adopted who. I honestly believe that he picked me. He is not like most dogs and often I have wondered if he is on the autism spectrum. I am a special education teacher and I recognize the signs. Maybe the universe wanted us to be together. Regardless, we were meant to be. We are in it for the long haul. Even the most frustrating moments are a blessing because we love each other.

With a dog, you never alone. That is a good thing.