#i've always adopted litters of puppies before

[workingforitallthetime]

intermission graphic 1/21/24

[markmybirds]

A Request for Ko-fi for my best girl Tesla

Hello! I don't usually post my own unique things on Tumblr anymore. Unless, someone has tagged me in a bandwagon survey. I don't generally post my art up anymore either so here we go! I'm an artist, I used to post to my other blog @owldrawathing . Markmybirds is actually my artist handle however, I don't use it for my art tumblr because I created the name for Tumblr initially.

Ok now that I've Overshared in Neurospicy. For the TL;DR: Our dog Tesla that we have had in our family for almost 12 years got diagnosed with a Sarcoma Tumour. Here is my Ko-fi link, please spread the word that I am taking commissions and selling prints of existing artwork for her surgery and pathology.

For the More Overshare Edition cause you want to learn about this beautiful dog and her family. Miss Tesla Umbreon came into my husband and I's lives as a late birthday gift to Cody (the husband). We were living in Ottawa and I took him into Gatineau, QC on the pretense that we were visiting puppies to just look and have some time with cute puppies. They were perfect, I would have loved to adopt a CKC dog for us but an Australian Shepherd breeder had an oops litter. I wanted an Aussie and Cody wanted a Lab for our first dog. His parents bred labs and I am a sucker for shepherd breeds. Long story short we picked out Tesla, our bundle of joy, as she was the quietest bean in the litter and the only puppy who was sold on coming home with us right away, just.. You know she was only just under 1 month when we visited her litter. You see the oops litter, well. She was born from an Aussie/Lab (with the smallest dollop of Border Collie) mix and an Australian Shepherd. She was the perfect oops for Cody and I. Tesla has been with us since she was 2 and a half months old. She has always been the best dog. We had a lot of darkness in that year she came to us, we were blessed by her and her now late cat-bro Kain for giving us a great big light in dark times. The past almost 12 years have been the best. She has been with us all throughout our Undergrads in University, our marriage, the birth of our daughter and she has been helping us raise our now five year old. Tesla has the patience of a saint, and although she is an anxious girl for horrible loud sounds she puts others first before her fears. We have never heard her growl or viciously bark at anyone or anything.

Two weeks ago we made an appointment after finding a new old lady bump that was sus. She has a few lumps and bumps that have just stuck around. However, getting this one tested has returned to us the fact it is a Sarcoma/Malignant Tumour. We are trying to raise funds through art and chainmaille jewellery done by my husband. Visit my Ko-fi (links at top of post) for my art commission information. and if you're interested in mobius earrings or a chainmaille bracelet done by my husband please don't be shy to inquire~!

[amyinmyheart]

The first ever cat in my life was my mums: Blacki. Blacki was saved from my mum as he was supposed as someone wanted to drown him and his litter mates.

Next cats when I was a young teenager (Blacki had died of old age) where Felix and Nixie. Their mum had been run over by a car and a friends parents found them and took them in to foster (they regularly did that). So we adopted two of the cats.

Unfortunately Felix escaped and run into one of our neighbours apartments. They thought he was a stray and brought him down to the garden and even after lots of searching we couldn't find him :( I always hope he was found by loving people and had a good home with them!

Nixie was very, very sad without her brother and as our relatives from the countryside were just trying to find homes for some baby kittens we decided to adopt one of them: Loreley. So our sad cat would have company.

Unfortunately Nixie despised Loreley from day 1 and things only ever got lukewarm with them.

My mum had this friend who was in and out of the hospital, and she had a cat: Sweetie. Either mum or me would go take care of Sweetie whenever mum's friend was in the hospital. Sadly the friend needed to move into residental care one day and her son (lives abroad) wanted to surrender the cat to an animal shelter. No way!!! Of course Sweetie came to live with us.

Nixie hated Sweetie too, though he adored her. Loreley was jealous of our attention that we gave to Sweetie, but otherwise pretty indifferent. Nixie sadly died of problems with her lungs, she got medicine and then died on the way to the emergency vet as it got very bad suddenly.

Sweetie died of old age and exhaustion years later. I held him for 3 days on (switching of with my mum) before he passed away. He liked laying on our chests, and cuddling.

Loreley bloomed as a single cat - she loved it to finally have all our attention for herself! She passed away during a super moon, and gave one loud scream - like she wanted to let everyone know it was time to say goodbye. (She wasn't much of a cuddler, and had a nest for herself in my mum's closet.)

A couple years without cats followed, meanwhile my cat befriended a very old lady who was worried what would happen with her cats when death came for her. Mum promised she would take the cats. The lady lived to 102 years old and then Puppi and Bincki came to live with us.

Puppi was a black beauty of a cat, with the softest, silk-like fur I've ever touched. She was a very special cat - of course every cat is special, but Puppi behaved like the queen she obviosuly was. She was also very loving, but preferred me over my mum. Mum was clearly the bonus human.

(Btw Puppi is derrived from "Puppe" (german for "doll"), so it doesn't refer to puppy but means "dolly").

Bincki was always more rambunctious, but also very sweet and cuddly. Puppi would have preferred her daughter gave all that attention more to us - she wanted to be left alone mostly by her cat child.

They were both used to live in a kind of permanent trailer park during summer with the old lady, and spend their winters in a flat. Mum befriended the old lady their, so when the cats came to live with us she kept the same routine. Unfortunately Puppi must have eaten something poisonous last summer (we suspect rat poison: mice and other rodents that have eaten rat poison don't die immediately and cats can catch & eat them) and even if we dried everything with medicine and special food she had one last beautiful late summer in the summer home and was euthanized by the vet when it became obvious she was only in pain any more and we shouldn't let her suffer.

So for now, Queen Bincki is the only (permanent) cat in my life. She inherited the title from her mum, though she doesn't behave as queen like and regal (must come from her dad we joke!). Bincki enjoys single cat live a lot and demands to be spoiled rotten. I can already expect to be admonished by her when I came home from work today... how dare I leave the Queen by herself so long???

(Don't worry, mum is coming at around noon to the apartment, because she has appointments in the city.)

[ashtraythief]

I’m so glad I was able to help!!! It’s really sad but even if the puppies are eight weeks, they tend to be spayed/neutered before being sent home. There are a couple of places that will let you wait, but they are few and far between. I tried my best to argue with the shelter I worked at to let me wait on neutering my puppy. He was 8 weeks, if that, but sadly no, wasn’t going to happen, even if they knew me. Which is unfortunate because neutering that young can result in a lot of negative health problems in the future. I get why they do it, but it’s sad. What is it like to adopt a dog in the UK? That is where you live, right? Do you think there will be a Sadie/Harley in your future one day? Or maybe the cat we know Jensen secretly pines for?

Absolutely super helpful!

Ugh, that is young. Poor babies. Maybe my fictional shelter will let Jared wait lol. Also how do they force you to do that? Do they just have it done at the vet and then send you the bill? Also my thought was that Jared gets to meet all the puppies from the litter that don't have a home yet and they have a room for meeting them? That could work, yeah?

Huh, I didn't think I ever said, but yes, that's where I currently live. I have no idea how dog adoption works here or anywhere really. My parents were always staunchly anti pet when I was a kid, and I've never been in a position in my adult life where I felt like I could adopt a pet and do them justice in caring for them or providing a stable home. Adopting a pet is just such a huge responsibility and sadly right now all I can do is be happy whenever I get a roommate who has one. I'm definitely a cat person, though I do like dogs, depending on the breed. But one day I hope to adopt two cute fluffy cats!

[hoe4hotchner]

Ok, no, I have to write you also this thought, bc my pea brain will forget it otherwise.

Do you think puppy!reader was with other hybrids at her previous owner before being adopted by Hotch to live with him and puppy!Spencer?

Because if yes, I think she had to fight for her food. And given the fact that it's established that puppy is a smaller and weaker kinda pet, I think she was not a good fighter.

So for one, she is absolutely malnourished and Hotch really has to do everything he can to get her back on the track she should be for her kind of breed.

But it also means, that in the beginning she immediately surrendered to Spencer (bc he is a big pet), knowing she wouldn't stand a chance against him. So whenever it's feeding time, she let's him have her food. And Spencer being the dumbass he is sometimes, thinks puppy is full from treats she got over the course of the day, so he happily eats her food too.

And when Hotch sees that for the first time, he tries to feed them at separate times, like, he gives Spencer his bowl first and then fills puppy's. But puppy leaves it untouched, scared that Spencer will hurt her as soon as she gets to it.

So Hotch starts to feed them at the same time, but in different rooms. Spencer still eats in the kitchen, but he takes puppy with him into his office and locks the door, making sure she feels safe.

But now, she things she has to eat as fast as possible and downs the whole bowl, effectively making her puke it all out, bc her stomach hasn't had so much food in it for a very long time

So yeah, it's a lot of untraining bad habits, but with lots and lots and lots of patience, they are able to get her to eat peacefully next to Spencer, getting all the nutrients she needs to be a healthy pet

(Sorry, this is kinda dark :/)

OMG POOR PUPPY!!! I'm crying. If only you could see my tears!! But also I don't think I've ever answered something as fast I have this.

I feel like her prev owners hosted a kind of puppy!hybrid fighting ring and she was by far the weakest, both from her size but also from the lack of food, so she also has a good chunk of scars littered over her body from the fights mostly from the ring but also when it was feeding time.

And the fact that Puppy is actually starving when she lets Spence eat all her food makes it all worse because she sure would like to eat, but is too scared that he'll bite and scratch her because she was out of line from what she had always known.

When Hotch takes her to his office to eat, he ends up having to hand feed her for the first long while, not even wanting to touch the bowl or sniff at it because she can hear Spencer moving around in the kitchen. She just whines up at him at lays her ears flat down.

The first time she actually eats out of his own bowl Hotch feels so proud of her until he notices how she's scouring down the meal and also hears Spencer's nails digging into the door. Safe to say that the rug in his office was never the same and he ended up buying a new one.

When he finally gets her to eat slower he moves her back into the kitchen to eat but turns back to the separated eating times until he feels that she's ready to try eating next to Spence again. At first, she still feels intimidated by the thought, and Spencer is quickly finished with his dinner, almost ready to pounce on yours because he remembered how she let him eat it previously.

Hotch puts his foot between the two of them, holding Spencer back. That's when she finally understands that no one is going to harm her in a fight for food and starts slowly nibbling the pellets up, looking up at Hotch for reassurance, which he gives her, gladly, by calling her his good girl

[behind-the-hood]

Hey babes, been a while, huh? So, I've been thinking about how I want to get back into the flow of things, and with that came my update on what all's been going on. And it's a lot. So I'm going to hit the big points and my pets, because they are my babies ❤

So, I got divorced, which was great. He's stolen my half of our last tax return he was required by our divorce agreement to give to me, and kept my stimulus checks, which is not great, and I will be taking him to court when my lawyer says the system isn't as slow as a snail on glue.

I've got myself a new boyfriend. He's...the best thing ever ❤ I don't wanna get too mushy on you guys, but imma marry that man ❤ We've been together for over a year now, and in that time we actually lost his mom...and that one still hurts me. She...didn't die in a pleasant way, and I hate that she won't get to see us get married or see her first grandbaby or any of the things she was so excited to see and do...😞

On a less depressing note, I got a lot of new pets. I got a job at the vet, and day four into my job, a couple of big ol' king shepherds came in; they were strays. (I theorize they came from a puppy mill.) Anyway, I adopted the female, and the male was sent to a shelter for german shepherds. Korra, that's what I named her, started getting fat not too long into my owning her. Or so I thought. A couple months later, I went from owning one dog to owning eleven. She had been pregnant and we were in major denial, lol. Anyway, the birth went well, all the babies were healthy, even the runt was doing good at first. She didn't end up making it, she was half the size of the others and some time into the second day, she stopped eating. Korra was sad when her baby died, but after about ten minutes of leaning over the runt protectively, she let me take her. I don't know if her instincts said it was best for the other puppies or what, but she eventually let it happen. After the eight weeks were up, and with the help of my childhood friend, we got all the puppies new homes. I kept one, named him Mikey. She and her parents kept a couple. She named her puppy Fonzie, and her parents named theirs Butch. All three get to go to the park on Sundays and play together. Korra doesn't go too often because she's protective of Mikey and we're working on that, but for now, she's too aggressive and by no means a small dog, so baby steps.

Edit: Captain passed away in November. It was particularly upsetting to me because he was sick before I left for Arizona for a few weeks, and I wasn't going to go if I thought he wasn't going to make it, but everyone insisted he'd be okay and that I should go. He didn't make it, and I hate that I didn't get to say goodbye...but he passed in his sleep at the vet, and he was on medication that kept most of his pain at bay...and that's probably all I could ask for...because they had called the day before asking if we wanted to have him put down, and we never got to make that decision...I feel like it was better that way...it always hurts more to have to put them down...Edit over.

My boyfriend and I also got a kitten. It's cute; he's never really had a pet of his own before and he's super excited about it. I wish I could describe to you the wonder and amazement on his face when he saw Victor use his litter box for the first time 😂 He just picked right up on it, and my boyfriend was so proud 🥰How we came about getting Victor is a little bit more depressing. Or stressful. I don't know; I'll tell you what happened and you can decided. His mom had a few cats, and Big Girl was pregnant. She had four little babies, one of them being Victor. I kept making jokes about wanting to keep him, but my boyfriend and mom were both adamant that I had more than enough pets--which is fair because I do, lol--anyway, they were hitting about seven or eight weeks old when my boyfriend and I were leaving one morning. He was taking me home before he went to work. He turned on the car and we heard a blood curdling screech from in the hood. I panicked and got out just in time to see a kitten run out from under the car dragging its front paw and trying to get away. I caught him and started panicking and crying because his paw was bleeding and I could see bone and I was just in a frenzie. My boyfriend had to get to work though--sometimes his work ethics are cute, sometimes they are frustrating 🙃--so I called my mom on the way to my house and told her what all had transpired and to have a crate ready because we were going to the vet. She called the vet to let them know ahead of time and when we got there, Victor was immediately taken back and examined. Long story short, the belt in the car had cut through two of his finger bones but the rest of the cut was superficial. They decided he would need surgery and sutures. We agreed, we paid, we prayed he lived through the surgery, and then we waited. Good news is that Sweet Baby lived, he barely had a limp despite almost losing his paw, he hated his sutures, and now he runs around and plays with Theo like nothing ever happened, lol. And my boyfriend just adores Victor, and it's very cute 🥰

Anyway, I couldn't stay at the vet because I kept getting sick and breaking out in hives and, turns out, I'm allergic to nearly everything under the sun except for foods and lizards 🙃 I decided to go into real estate like my mom instead, and I just finished up all my classes and am ready to go into the thick of it!! Wish me luck in that endeavor 😁👍

So anyway, I can't think of anything else at the moment. That's my life update--Oh! I got covid from my mom. My quarantine ended literally two days ago, but I only had a cough. That being said, I've been suffering from a sinus infection for well over a month now, and got my period in the middle of it all, so that was awful 🙃 But! All of this is to tell you that I'm hoping to get back into my writing soon, and can present you guys with all the things I never got to finish or would totally love to start!! 😁

There's no set date on when I think I'll have anything ready, but I'm hoping over the next month or so, I can put out the third part of the Papa Makedon series out. I also hope over the course of the week I can start looking at all the asks I'm sure tumblr never told me I had 🙃

Love you, babes!! I hope you all have kept safe and healthy, and I hope to get back with you soon 😁🤙

---

Here's my sweet girl Korra with all her babies. I believe they were about a couple days old at that point.

And here's my Mikey, as a wee one and as a big boy ❤ He's turning one on August 3rd you guys~ 🥰

And here's little Victor (please excuse the food on his nose, I thought it was adorable, lol. I've just mostly got videos of him, and not too many pictures 😅)

[meeko-mar]

Yeah pretty much NO ONE I have talked to who has cats is like "We're gonna get her to make some kittens first, Though I've heard plenty of dog owners say so, its much more a factor of dog culture here in the US. I know in the area I live and work in, there's a few known breeders around, notably one family that does Golden Doodles(they come in to my work frequently to walk and socialize their dogs) who can sell their pups for upwards in the thousands of dollars each, because they're "Certified purebred"....which is a whole THING that I do not really jive with. I've ALWAYS been a RESCUE person and so I don't like the designer puppy/kitten idea, and why spend thouands for one puppy out of a litter of around 8 when you can pay a much cheaper adoption fee to give an animal who already exists a home.

I don't understand it?! It just seems exploitative?? I'm not one of those nutso PETA, Animal rights types but at the same time, just having dogs and breeding them every season to sell the puppies, MORESO if they're more "valuable" breeds, just seems like you're using the dogs, I mean you could argue at that point that its no different than owning livestock, but dogs and cats fallinto a different category because there are SO MANY SHELTERS full of babies that don't have homes or owners already, and you're just breeding MORE babies because you value particular traits over the other??

SIGH

ANYWAY I got away with myself, I think I was saying that it just sounds so strange to hear a cat-owner saying that when it's more pervasive with dog-owners. I really hope you can talk some sense into them before their baby ends up preggers.

Had to talk about cat teenage pregnancy with a co-worker after she said her 6-month old fluffball seems to be in heat and they haven’t been giving her any pills or considered getting her fixed before she has one batch of kittens. ”But we think it’s safe to let her out, all the male cats that we know of around here are castrated probably.”

*deep breath*

In the wise words of The Kitten Lady, getting angry doesn’t help. Helping helps.

[mygermanshepherd]

your shepherds (especially lola i LOVE her coat. any puppy pics of her?) are beautiful. Where are yall located? do you breed? I've done quite alot of research but any tips for picking a pup/training in general that you dont see much? I plan on getting a GSD pup sometime later this year.

Thank you! We are in BC Canada. I don’t breed and unfortunately don’t have any puppy photos of Lola since I just got her in Feb. I wish I did though! It’s neat seeing the colour changes sables go through. 

In regards to picking a pup, it depends on what you are looking for in a dog. For me, I would be researching the different breeders and letting the breeder know what I want in a dog. What I want to do with it, any possible future sports etc so the breeder is able to match me with a pup. It can be hard to see what a puppy is like unless you are with them all the time like a breeder, so I think it’s best for them to be able to tell you about each puppy and what qualities they have.  (On a side note, I’ve fostered a lot of litters of kittens and have had people come to meet them. Depending on the day, or time of day, or how long the people come, the kittens personalities tend to not show through. It can be hard to see what they are like, unless you are with them a lot. Also, with every litter I always end up falling in love with one I didn’t think I would, just cause their personality comes through but if I had just been going to the shelter to adopt one I would’ve never known.)

As for training, something I think some people need to remember is that a puppy is still a baby! There will be some setbacks, maybe potty training or crate training will take longer than you’d like. Imo it’s best to set them up with a good foundation, but remember that they are still a baby and have lots of growing to do! Consistency is good especially as they get older and start testing boundaries.

Also another thing is to consider puppy classes or obedience classes. Tbh I never went to any type of classes before with our dogs, but I recently started working for a training kennel (my boss used to breed GSD and do Schutzhund) and it really opened my eyes to how much I didn’t know haha. Kilo has improved so much with his reactivity since I started bringing him there. Of course though, all trainers are not created equal, so it can be a challenge finding one with the same beliefs as you, that you can work well with. 

Anyway I hope this helps! Good luck on getting a pup, I’d love to see photos when you do :)

[sheeppusher]

Feelings about my dog(word vomit)

Ok so this is kinda hard for me to write but idk really know why so I'll just start.

I basically told my dad that I want a dog or else I'd have no reason to live, seeing I was just rejected by my local shelter to foster kittens(it was fine when she was there but later she decided the space was too small such a fucking dick move)

But anyway yeah I had nothing going on, no work, no school, no friends so might as well just die right?

So my dad agreed even though he didn't even like dogs, he really didn't want to get a dog, but we got one anyway.

In comes Koda the puppy. I found the litter online they were €650 each without a family tree or official breed stuff but I wanted a dog now and this at the time was the best option.

Now if you feel I should've gotten a shelter dog. Mind you I live in northern part of the Netherlands. The end of the train line. The only dogs(which are about a handful) that are in shelters here are not beginner dogs. I wasn't going to get a dog that I couldn't handle.

But back to my puppy. You might expect a disaster story, but actually it's not. Apart from the 2 hours we had to drive to the breeder.

They had 5 dogs, the 2 parents, one of the parents' parent and 2 unrelated dogs(one of which unfortunately passed away in the short time we knew them). They were/are really nice people. This apparently was a one time litter. I think there were around 7 puppies and they were color coordinated. I chose pink.

Actually when we got there there were 2 not yet adopted. Pink and orange. One growled when I picked him up and the other cried. Thinking back I must have chosen the one crying because I'm such a crybaby myself.

He was so small. I could hold him in 2 palms.

It was awkward though because I didn't know what to do. I've always been a cat person. I know how to act around cats/kittens. If I could have my way I'd fill the entire house with a cat per room. But sadly my dad is allergic.

Although that little complication is what brought Koda into my life.

The second time I saw him was a couple weeks later. He was much bigger but still no larger than a boot. There wasn't much interest in us. I held him, but I didn't want to stress him out too much. We mostly just chatted with the family.

He stayed at their house until he was 12 weeks. We could have brought him home at 8, but we were going on holiday and a puppy that's not housetrained... Let's just say bringing him would not have been a smart idea.

It said in de ad too, they could stay until you came back from summer holiday. And they even payed for the shots during that time. Like I said they are really nice.

So we came back from holiday and went to pick him up the next day. It was pretty hectic too, because puppy training was actually on Sunday and we picked him up on Saturday and he had to vaccinated before the training. Like stresscentral.

Speaking of stress. Me. I was INCREDIBLY overwhelmed. You know that feeling of getting a new pet? And you get all nervous. That times a thousand. Luckily I had my little sister and dad to fall back on. Especially my little sister who remained calm as I was freaking out.

Honestly I felt so bad. I was mad at myself too. But I honestly could not handle the responsibility.

Puppy training did go really well actually. I myself attended most of them and I have to say I really underestimated dogs. They are so incredibly smart and learn so fast. Honestly you can teach a puppy to sit in a couple of minutes it's incredible.

My little sister did most of the training outside of the lessons tho. She was gone for puppy basic training 3 so that's probably why he did worse haha...

The trainer said it may be hormones but I know it was because I was a lazy ass and didn't continue his training through-out the week... I hate that part of myself.

Speaking of training. You know what happens there? Your puppy gets kennel-cough. Even tho you got them that weird nose stuff which is supposed to prevent it. They still get it. Because apparently there are different types.

Now kennel-cough isn't the worse thing it just makes your puppy slower and honkier, but try telling a new dog owner like me that.

The worse thing about him having kennel-cough was that I am a horrible person who was glad my puppy was sick because then he wouldn't bother me all day.

I'm honestly tearing up, I feel so bad for saying that but it's true. My dumb ass picked a dog breed that is known for their need of exercise. While I have chronic fatigue.

Now that I feel horrible let's talk about now.

Even after mostly leaving him to my dad and little sister he somehow decides he likes me best.

Maybe it's because when I do do something with him I don't just go around the block. I try for him. I ring the doorbells of his doggy friends and ask their owners if they can play. Just like you did when you were a kid.

But I feel like I only do that so he gets tired more easily.

Also I don't feel like dogs really love people and they only look at them as benefits. Maybe I'm wrong. On the one hand I hope I'm wrong, but on the other, if he did really love me, I would feel bad, because I could never love him as much as he does me.

Maybe I'm afraid. That maybe loving a dog is foolish. Or I really do just have a cold heart.

That's the thing. What are you supposed to think of your dog. In the end it's an animal and you'll never be able to truly understand it.

This time on holiday he went with us and all he did was stick to me. He wouldn't even walk off the property with my dad or little sister. It's endearing, but I guess concerning? For myself or for him?

It's like I was his lifeline or something. Looking back I realize even though I was concerned, I was kinda happy? The kind of happy you feel when you are needed. You are special.

Now I'm crying. I do love my dog. He makes me smile every day. Gives me a reason to leave my bed. Because dammit I will take care of that animal the best that I can. No one will ever be able to say that that's not a happy healthy pupper.

He's got toys, a yard, friends and a family that loves him. A minimum quality of live every dog deserves. Idk where I'm going with this, but it's breaks my heart to see how some dogs are treated. Some videos that I can never erase from my mind. Even now there's a lady in the same street who still uses a slip chain on her dog. If you don't know what that is, it's a chain that catches the dogs skin when you pull it's leash. They used to use it when training dogs(some places still do). Basically hurting them so they would obey you. How fucked up is that?

I think I've talked enough. Here's one tip no one told me before I got a puppy:

Don't let it eat snow, it will get sick.

This would seem like an important thing to tell me, but nope.

Ok bye.

[z--o--o]

"What gave it away?"

He jokes back, attention quickly drifting downward to the well trained dog by her heels. That was a bad habit, as most people found it rude but maybe with a dog person it was alright.

"Yeah, I've adopted from here before. A puppy for my daughter, beautiful white lab we named Henry." He informs, happily kneeling down and shaking Ozzie's paw and offering him his free hand to sniff.

"Well hello, Ozzie. 'Stranger' likes going by Mitch, actually." He says softly, petting the plotty for his good behavior before standing back up.

"Good to meet you, Emily. Sorry, I always seem to shake the dog's hand first." He chuckles, offering his hand to the other human being. He was an animal person to a fault most of the time.

"I was looking at this one over here, actually." He says, tapping the glass in the direction of a small grey pitbull puppy.

"I pass by twice day on my way to work and all of her litter mates have been picked off." He informs, pressing his lips into a flat line, a sort of muted frown as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looks at her.

"You know pits are so misjudged... I guess I'm worried no one will pick her if I don't." He admits, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

z–o–o:

Mitch walked by the same pet store every day on his commute to and from work but he never stopped in. He saw enough animals in his field so he felt no reason. Today, however, on his routine walk home he stopped. Seeing a white lab puppy in the window was enough to remind him of his old dog and set in just how lonely it was at home. 

“Cute, aren’t they?” 

Mitch said awkwardly to the person who caught him standing at the window for much longer than he meant to. He’d been meaning to get some animal companionship for a while but just never felt it was ‘the right time’ whatever that was.

“I have a uh… jellyfish back home… ‘thought it was about time for a pet I could, you know, pet.” 

Emily prides herself on being a local shopper. The small family businesses were what kept her community rolling for years as a kid and teen; of course she’s going to give all her money to the same families when she needs to be a consumer. She’s walking to the petshop to do just that, food and supplies needed for her own furry companions, Ozzie, her hound, ever vigilant at her ankles. Emily notes the man there by the puppy display window and smiles, head atilt as she slows beside him. Dark eyes move from the man to the puppy display. She makes a small motion with her hand to let Ozzie in closer. As he sits up to stare into the window, the puppies all start gathering in a wild mob to see him. And that’s when the man pulls her attention from the puppies to him. All she does at first is nod, a small smile at her lips. It’s only when he continues that she continues to watch him and listen.

       “ Now that just sounds like quitter talk, “   she jokes. A small chuckle escapes her at her own joke before waving it off with a dismissive hand.   “ No, I get you. –You lookin’ to adopt today then? “   Pointing over to the puppies enamored by their audience, she glances from them back at the man.

       “ The family that owns the shop breeds them from their beauty at home. They’re where I got my boy from. “   Pointedly moving Ozzie forward to present himself. He’s stoic as he moves, entirely controlled in the atmosphere. A smile and she waves a hand from Ozzie up to the stranger.   “ Stranger, this is Ozzie. Ozzie, this is stranger. “   And like that, the plotthound’s paw comes up for a shake, his tail jittering.

Emily loved showing off Ozzie’s menial training to anyone she could really. Being a therapy dog, he was already quite well behaved, but he’d picked up so many tricks, she had to be one of those owners that just showcased him anywhere and everywhere. After the shake, she lets out a soft laugh and smiles up at the stranger.

       “ And I’m Emily. –If you really might adopt, I could probably give you pointers on what to get for a puppy? They’re a handful, but you seem like a patient man. “