Remember that post from a while ago? February 2012. The one about the dogs. It was a list of dogs that I wanted, and why.
Well. Since then, I've had some events that changed my mind on those. I've now narrowed my desire to two dogs that were never even close to being on the list before.
But first, let me explain my reason for change...
As I have said before, I recently changed my direction in college. I went from an art freak to a biology monster. Don't ask me why. Cus I honestly have no idea. I'm so bad at science. But I'm stubborn, so we'll see how this goes. Anyway, the idea was that I would go to vet school. Mainly because I had started to become obsessed with dogs. Its weird, cus I've always preferred cats... But maybe the combination of my (now ex)boyfriend being allergic to dogs and the prospect of not being able to have one in the future mixed with the animal shelter back at school that kept up my sanity when I was lonely (not to mention the lovely Nicholas Sparks' frequent use of dog themes in his overly romantic stories) made me slightly alter my preferences. Either way, various events pushed me to change my course of action. I mean, after all, you don't need college to be an artist. You just need determination. And... well I just didn't want to drop out. Its a scary thought. So essentially I decided I wanted a job that paid a lot of money so that I could actually afford to pay for good art supplies. It seems like a good plan, right?
I'm losing my train of thought.
So I'm a biology major. For now, anyway. And as a biology major, its necessary that I get some experience. So when I came back for the summer, I did some job searching. I was determined not to work at Sonic again. I was done with that. I even turned in my shirts to my college-town branch. I'll be taking a job at another place come school year. But as for the summer, I needed something new. Something that would apply to my interests.
I turned in applications to a vet clinic, which was a logical choice. But then also to a dog kennel. But not just any dog kennel. This was the dog kennel. Hundreds of dogs, both boarding and daycare, running around all day long, having the time of their freaking lives.
This was some intense stuff. Of course, I preferred the kennel. Geeze, it just looked way more fun.
Long story short, I got the job. And now, here I am. Working at a freak'n dog party. Its so amazing. 8-6 job, and wears me out. But its so worth it. If it means I'm playing with dogs instead of mixing milk shakes, I'd work even longer. (that's an exaggeration...)
So now that I've been working there for a while, I've gotten in close contact with some breeds. I've actually met, if some in only short contact, all of the ones that I listed. The Saint Bernards were only there a couple days, and were never under my supervision. The only Dalmatian I met was old, fat, and grumpy, and wasn't allowed to play with the other dogs. The Great Danes were sweet, though one was terrified of everything. I only saw the sheep dog in passing. And the Great Pyrenees belongs to one of the workers, so I see him often. My opinion of each hasn't changed to much.
Now... the boxers. The dogs I have been obsessed with for years. I still love them! Don't mistake me! But.. goodness. Those babies can slobber. And they're super aggressive. And have weird faces. Uhm... geeze, I can feel it now. You dog lovers out there are probably reading this growing furious at my shallow observations. Well just give me a break and walk away. I'm not in the mood to read some angry comment.
However, while I loved tons of dogs that I worked with, there were two in particular that I died for. Both of them were German Shepherds.
Case was a young puppy. He would bounce around the "small dog yard" with his friend, Quinn, the Great Dane puppy. They would roll around on the ground, and flop around with their awkwardly large paws. Case would talk to all the other dogs with his silly little bark, and for real crack me up. In the "big dog yard", there was another Shepherd named Slate. He was mostly black, and has so incredibly sweet. I can't really say a whole lot about him, except that I adored him.
On the other hand, I was once looking up hypoallergenic dogs. It annoyed me that there were so many people allergic to dogs, and the possibility of not being allowed to have one killed me. All of the breeds were... lame. Freaking Shih Tzu. They look like Ewoks, but still. I don't like them. The only large dogs on the list were Poodles and Labradoodles. Both of which seemed awful. Until...
Oh, Bella. The sweetest freaking dog ever. I love her!!! Labradoodles are so adorable. Bella, Oliver, Brewer... I can't get over them!! And they don't shed?! Okay. They aren't so bad after all.
So I've reached a conclusion. Long ago, my family had a golden, that we had rescued from the pound. Crazy-hyper guy was named Apollo. He died a horrible death. Antifreeze poisoning, we think from one of our neighbors. But he was such a sweetheart. When you were sad, he would just lay his head on your lap. Or if you wanted to talk to somebody, you could just stand near the railing of the porch, and he would prop his front legs up, and stare off into the distance, like everything you had to say required deep thought. Or if you to happy to contain yourself, he LOVED dancing with you. He would happily wear the costumes my 10-year-old self would dress him in. He was the prince of the kingdom who fell in love with the local nurse (Abby didn't like to wear her nurse hat as much as Apollo liked his crown).
Oh lord. I could talk about him all day. He was a good dog. A good dog...
In honor of him, my brother had always aspired to get a dog and continue with a Greek mythology theme. A month ago, he picked up Achilles from the shelter. The Shepherd-Lab-Husky mix is so incredibly adorable. Two years old, and hyper off the walls. My dad says he has spirit. He's sleeping at the end of my bed as I type.
So it is my turn to do the same thing, right? The whole point of this super-drawn-out-post was to put into writing what kind of dog I wanted. So... yes.
My little German Shepherd girl would have to be named Artemis or Athena. If I were to get a doodle instead, it would have to be a little boy, whose name could only be Hermes.
... Well.
That was anticlimactic.
