Adopting Beans

            I have always thought of myself as a dog person. I know as a kid, I was asking my parents for a dog until we got one, and Elsie was incredible, and she lived a long life, and while we had her, we asked my parents for another dog, and we got Gator, who lived a shorter life, but it was still long enough to leave a big imprint. As an adult, I kept telling myself that I would get a dog, but it was never the right time. I was not home enough, I did not have a big enough space, and whatever other reasons I would tell myself. Then I moved in with Mya, and she brought a cat with her, Jack. A beautiful boy with a tuxedo pattern and bright green eyes that can stare into your soul. I had never been a cat person, in fact I had been slightly allergic, but pretty quickly I fell in love.

            Jack has his annoying moments, like when it is time to eat, and he refuses to stop meowing until those demands are met, or when I would sleep in on the weekend, and he would jump up on the bed, and he would get on my chest and scratch at my face, because it was time to get up, because he wanted to eat. Despite his annoying hunger pains, I loved him. I started to think of myself as a cat person, and it took less than a year. Mya and I had talked about getting another pet, both cat and dog. We had done a ton of looking on different pages too.

            At one point, I thought I found the perfect dog on Helping Hounds. It was a corgi mix, and I love corgis, but they are short and seem unathletic, but this mix had the incredible corgi face on a taller build. It was the best of both worlds, but on Helping Hounds dogs go quick, so we applied immediately, but to our surprise, not only did we not get this dog, but we were rejected outright. They “do not have to give a reason,” but my suspicion is that it is because we were still living in the apartment at the time, but an outright rejection of our application was tough.

            So we took a break until we moved into our substantially bigger town house. We both continued to look, and we would regularly send each other potential pets, but there was no trigger pulling happening.

            If we were to get another cat, I told Mya, that it had to be an orange cat. I do not know what it is about them, but I absolutely love them, and they seem cutely mischievous too. So one day, she found an orange cat, and she was serious. She said okay I want to get this one, and I said okay. So we were going to get this orange cat to pair with Jack, and we were going to name him Tater Tot. I cannot remember his given name, but we submitted our successful application, and we just had to wait.

            Then a few days later, we received a message saying that New York had closed its borders to Texas rescue animals due to some disease that they were potentially carrying. So they told us we could wait for an undetermined amount of time for this cat, or we could just call it off and continue looking. He was very cute, but the prognosis of the situation did not look good. Other states had closed their borders to Texas animals too, and we did not want to bring a disease into the house with Jack, so sadly we canceled. No Tater Tot.

            Two years ago, I had the opportunity to run with the dogs at the CNYSPCA animal shelter, and it was incredible, but then I got hurt for over a year, and I did not return. Still, those animals hold a special place in my heart. It was also probably the place that Mya and I sent the most posts from about potential pets. After so many days of looking and looking at potential pets, I submitted an application, and after a few days, I heard back that we were cleared to look.

            When we lost the chance to adopt Tater Tot, I was reading the book Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About, and it is about a girl who adopts a dog, and then she starts to foster dogs too, and it spoke to me. So it started to feel wrong to adopt a cat. I loved dogs, and I needed a dog, so when I got the call from the CNYSPCA, and they asked if we were looking for a dog or a cat, I said we were a little undecided, but leaning towards a dog, and I told her what we were looking for, and since we already had a cat, and we have a two and a half year old living with us, she recommend that we go for a puppy. So we scheduled an appointment for us to come and look at the puppies they had to offer.

            They had recently pulled in a batch of four sibling puppies, and one of them absolutely stole my heart, Ivy. Ivy was a beautiful black dog with a mostly white face. The skin on her face was pulled back tight, giving her the cutest little eyes, and I was in love from the moment I saw her picture. Mya had a different viewpoint, and she did not find Ivy or Hulk nearly as cute as I did, so this became a point of contension as we looked at their list of puppies, which was limited.

            I had read on the CNYSPCA’s Instagram that black dogs are less likely to be adopted, and I figured if I had to adopt a puppy, that it should at least be black so I could take one of these dogs out! I already felt bad about not being able to get a slightly older dog that had potentially been at the shelter for a longer time, like Timmy, who is now thankfully adopted, but I could help in this way.

            Of course, when we got there, the first dog they brought out was Nash, an unhealthily skinny golden retriever mix, who had been found out on route 31 by Wegmans. He did not care about us at all. He just kind of wandered around and was totally aloof.  A complete goofball that struggled to find treats in front of his nose. The next dog they brought out was Kaliope. She was of similar stature, super skinny, but she was all black with an interesting haircut. She had a skin condition, and she had to receive special baths, but she was all better now, her coat was just growing back. She was much more high energy and jumping around. A very sweet girl.

            Those were the only two pups they had there, the others had been fostered out. So there was no Ivy or Hulk, which was honestly probably for the best, because I do not think I could have left without adopting Ivy. So after our introductions, I asked if we could see Nash again. Our visit had been brief due to his total disinterest in us, and I wanted to give him more of a chance. This time when he came out, I picked him up and cuddled him into my lap as I sat crisscross apple sauce on the floor, and I was in love. Nash has desert sand golden hair, long floppy ears, sad light brown eyes, but a happy trot to offset the sadness. When we left, we told them we would think it over and give them a call the next day.

            In the parking lot, I turned to Mya and I said what are you thinking, and she said Nash, and I said me too! We both agreed that his temperament and aloofness seemed to fit in best with our household needs. So the next day, we called them up and told them we wanted Nash. They said when do you want him? To which we replied as soon as possible! Two days later on the Fourth of July, we had him!

            In those two days that we were waiting for him to come, we discussed an endless number of names before settling on Wiley Beans. Wiley like the Coyote due to his golden tan coat, and tall lanky body with big ears. He is not a spitting image of the cartoon, but more accurate to a wild coyote in the desert, and Beans, because we both liked it, and it works as a short quick nickname.

            He has quickly found a place in our heart and in our home. He has been a fast learner, and he has done well in just about every area. I have been trying to train him, and he has learned basic commands, but he can be stubborn and refuse, but other than that, he has learned fast. Our accidents inside have been minimal, and I am the one pulling on the walks because he likes his sniffs, usually.

The two things we are working on are his jumping on the counter, and his relationship with Jack. I do not think he intends any harm towards Jack, but he does like to try and nip at him when we put them in close proximity, but slowly but surely, Jack is becoming more confident. He can be skittish, so it took him being forced to even show his face, but just today, he stood his ground when his room was almost invaded by Wiley, and he scared Wiley, so maybe now that he knows he has power he will come out more. I might not miss being swatted at in the morning on the weekend, but I do miss Jack cuddling up on my chest as I read my book before bed.

At the end of the day, I can say I am a dog person and a cat person. I love having Wiley around, but I miss Jack’s cuddling presence as well. Both have their personalities and although they are completely different, I love them both. Either way, if you identify as a dog person or a cat person, they need your help! There are so many waiting for their forever homes, and some have been waiting for a long time, so if you have even thought about taking the leap and getting a pet, do it. It is always worth it.