Pet Adoption Weekend

March 20 and 21 are National Pet Adoption Weekend. Oddly enough, our little household will probably be out looking for a new dog that weekend. My roommate graduates from her retraining course the Friday before that, so she will have some time at home while seeking work. And this past weekend, we had to have her dog put to sleep. So the household is down to one dog, and rather quiet and empty. Nestle was along with us to witness the euthanasia, so he is aware that his life-long companion is gone, and he is a bit more clingy and wanting to offer up more kisses, but seems to be coping reasonably well.
It's always a heart-rending event, but Diamond was very nearly 17 years old, and had lived a full life, with nearly 10 years devoted to pet therapy. She will be hard to replace, but we know there will be some soul out there who needs a home and fits with our family. I will have to gird myself for the trips into shelters -- I make the initial foray and only bring Judy in if there is a doggie candidate. Starting with our own local shelter makes it especially hard, as this is an old shelter with not much good going on. They just lost their second good and effective director because of the shelter board. Now the board is in charge again, and the hopes for a new building are again pushed aside. But I have to look, as adopting a dog from them would indeed be an act of rescue.
We will probably not find anything here or in Jefferson County, as both are small shelters mostly occupied by pit, Lab, hound, and shepherd crosses, and Judy requires a small dog. So it will probably be on to Kitsap, a much larger (and better run) facility where years ago I found Nestle. There is also our local rescue guild, but I haven't heard back from them yet about anything small and fuzzy they may have in foster care.
In any event, we will be an active part of National Pet Adoption Weekend this year.