Stelllll-LA!

Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Me!!

Well, I found her. My baby. I named her Stella. I adopted her from PawMatch, which is an Austin based company that takes puppies out of the pound and to pet shops such as PetSmart or PetCo in the hopes that more exposure will get them adopted [as opposed to the other :( option].

April & I were in San Antonio, visiting the Alamo and Riverwalk area and we had a bit of time and I had mentioned earlier that I wanted to stop at PetSmart on the way home to see if they had any puppies out for adoption....and the rest, as they say, is history.

We saw her tied up outside the pens....I was actually looking at a lab/border collie puppy who was sleeping, when April asked about Stella [whom they had just named Leona--bleh...what kind of name is that?!?!?]. They said she was found wandering the streets of San Antonio. She had on a cheap reflective collar, but no tags or anything, which suggested that someone let this sweet, wonderful dog loose without any care or concern about her well-being!! [errr...don't get me started on that soapbox!] breathe, breathe, breathe...

okay, so she was sooooo sad and soooooo lifeless--even when we went over and sat down and talked and petted her. It was as if she didn't want to get to know us or get excited about us being there because she knew we were going to leave without her. That's when I decided that she needed to come home with me! April [the magnificently kind hearted and patron saint of homeless puppies!] loaned me a bit of moo-la so that I could adopt her plus get all of her basic supplies because she knew that we couldn't leave her there either. I thought the PawMatch guy was going to cry when I told him I wanted to adopt her! [heck, I thought I might cry!!] But I asked if I could rename her--and he said that Leona was just a name his mother picked out for her because they had no idea what her name was. I mentioned that she looked like a Stella to me and he agreed and said that actually that's what he wanted to name her [of course, I believed him, because, well, I wanted to and it was like another sign that this was the right thing to do!]

I signed 145 different documents saying that I would love and cherish and honor her and that I wasn't going to hurt, dismember, sacrifice, or dispose of her [how freaking revolting is that?!?!? those people should be shot just like the people who let her go!] and that sometimes it doesn't work out and that's okay, but that I'm to bring her back to PawMatch rather than take her elsewhere [which I thought was pretty darn cool of them, but of course, by document #1 I'm in it for the long haul!]

Of course, we got rid of the ridulous neon peach plastic collar and choose a new RED collar [and of course matching harness and leash!], a Stella dog tag, food, treats, chews, a bouncing ball--which she'll chase, but not bring back--and Mr. Moose, her squeaky toy which she loves when I squeak, but usually uses him as a pillow.

I thought she was a hound dog--as she looks like a petite, but far less slobbery bloodhound. Turns out she is a Catahoula Leopard....or, as her official name is a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog and she is a cattle dog. But I'm telling you she has those saaaaad brown hound eyes, so maybe she has a bit o' hound dog in her as well....

She is very well behaved and doesn't bark a lot nor jump on furniture--except, as I found out this morning when the garbage truck drives past. In which case, she runs straight into my bedroom, jumps on the bed, and shoves her head under the covers. Even though I know she's scared, I can't help but laugh, 'cuz it was damn funny!!

:) shez