Gabbing with Gilbert

They came to the shelter on Easter Monday.

There was 3 boys and a lady. The boys were small, medium and large. The large guy took one look at me and I could tell he liked me. I looked back, all sheepish and all. I’m always cautious with strangers. I’ve been hurt before.

The shelter people took me in a big room and let me go free so I could visit with my potential new family.

This wasn’t my first Rodeo. I was on my best behaviour. I ran to the big guy and immediately flipped on my back. When I don’t know people, I submit.

He pet my belly, I jumped on his lap: It was love at first sight.

We played a bit. I showed them that I can fetch a toy–which I really don’t like to do, but since my adoption depended on it, I gladly did. The woman clearly was the one making the decisions, so I let her pet me too. If she was the boss lady, figured I’d better suck up to her a little too.

They signed papers to give me a try. They would foster me for a couple of weeks, then decide.

They put me in a car. It was a long drive before we got to my new home. We crossed a tall bridge and had to talk to people in uniform. I think they took me to another country! I don’t like people in uniform.

Finally, we arrived. The very first thing I did is sniff around and find a spot to mark my territory. If this was going to be my new home, I figured I should announce it to the world right away to avoid confusion. I lifted my leg and sprayed the wall. They all came running telling me NO! Guess it wasn’t such a good idea after all.

A few days went by and I got comfortable. This was a nice home, people were friendly, everybody seemed to love me and there were not too many rules. I can’t go on the couch, but I sleep with my favourite guy and they feed me well.

But one night, I got into a barking match with the boss lady.

I had pooped on the floor and she wasn’t happy to have to clean my mess, so I could sense her annoyance when she came toward me. I jumped on the couch in defiance. Big Mistake! She said NO! But I’m stubborn. I didn’t want to get off and I certainly don’t appreciate being yelled at. She came to grab me, so I let her know, with my growl and my teeth, that I didn’t want her to touch me. I got off the couch and ran into MY crate, figuring she’d leave me alone if I retreated to MY space. She approached me anyway waving her arms everywhere. I didn’t want to talk anymore. I just wanted her to go away. I barked. She barked back. I barked louder. She barked louder. At this point, I’m terrified because in the past, when I got into a barking match, I always lost, so I’m expecting her to hit.

But she didn’t hit. I calmed down. 
She calmed down. But I though for 
sure this was my last night there.