Today, November 23rd, is Penny’s unofficial birthday. She’s five years old now, and I am so thankful to have had these past four years with her. I often think about how she came into our lives on this day, and how blessed we are to be her fur parents.
Court and I had been in Corpus Christi for about three months when the need for a four-legged baby hit me hard. I was unemployed, and being home by yourself all day is incredibly lonely.
Court was open to it, but there were stipulations. First, we were going to rescue (which was fine by me!) and it needed to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback or some kind of mix. Second, he needed time to build a fence for the backyard. No problem.
One day, while browsing a pet adoption site online, I found her. Shelby, a pure Rhodesian Ridgeback was at a kill shelter in Comfort, Texas. Her deep brown eyes bore into my soul as they stared at me from her profile picture, her little ears laid back in fear. One close look and it was obvious she was not a pure Ridgeback, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to bring her home.
I showed her to Court, and mirrored her puppy dog eyes to him, and he finally relented. He wasn’t sure at first, but gave me the approval to bring little Shelby home.
I called the shelter the next morning, a Tuesday, and asked if we could put a hold on Shelby.
“Sorry, ma’am, we don’t do that.” The receptionist dismissed my request quickly. My heart sank a little, and she seemed to pick up on my disappointment. “Look, she’s been here since June, and no one has shown any interest in her. She’ll probably be here whenever you can get here to pick her up.”
“I’ll be there Friday.” I could almost hear her shrug dismissively over the phone, but I wouldn’t give up on Shelby.
I called that shelter every morning for the rest of the week to ask if Shelby was still available. The same girl answered every time, her disbelief growing every day.
But on that Friday morning, September 23rd, 2016, I grabbed my girlfriend Makayla and we drove 3 hours from Corpus Christi to Comfort to pick up my little girl.
My heart thundered in my chest as we walked into the shelter and I announced my intentions. “I’m here to adopt Shelby.” A shelter technician escorted us to her kennel so that we could take her outside and become acquainted.
I began to panic. What if she was much bigger than we could handle? What if she didn’t like meeting people? What if she didn’t like other dogs? What if she didn’t like me?
The technician stopped in front of a kennel with one little dog. She bounded up to the door, her golden-brown eyes glowing brightly and her little body wiggling as fast it could move. He put a leash on her and she practically dragged him to the door.
As soon as we got to the outdoor play area, she took off like a little gazelle through the grassy yard, basking in the morning sunlight. I called her, my heart aching because I already loved her so much. I didn’t know it was possible to love another creature so much.
The technician apologized, “she’s normally so social and loves people, I’m so sorry.” I waved him off and kept trying to get her attention. As we watched her frolic in the yard, he started telling us more about her.
This was Shelby’s THIRD time at the shelter. And she was only 10 months old. Her first family had brought her back because she had too much energy. Her second family had brought her back because they wanted her to be an outside dog. They would tie her up outside and she would escape, only to be found inside with the children. It still breaks my heart when I think of her tied up outside as a little puppy.
She was engrossed in examining something on the chain link fence when I settled onto my knees and finally called her one more time, “Shelby!” She turned to look at me and froze, her eyes drilling into mine as though she could read my thoughts. One moment, she was frozen; the next, she bounded full speed into me and knocked me on my back, licking my face all over.
“I’m ready to take her home!”
We took her back up front, and I brought out the teal harness, leash, and collar that I had carefully picked to offset her reddish-brown fur. The tech commented how amazing it was that the color looked so nice on her… As if I hadn’t planned it from the beginning…
Once the adoption papers were signed, we coaxed her into the back seat with me and she settled with her head on my lap. Although he hadn’t been outwardly very enthusiastic, Court immediately started texting me from work, asking for updates and pictures of our little girl. We shared all the snuggles and a few chicken nuggets along the way (which is how she also became known as “Nugget” in our household).
When we got home, I let her roam around to get acquainted with her new house. She smiled her little doggy smile while rolling around on the bed, savoring the feel of the comforter against her fur. She smelled all the smells and examined everything she could. She stared down the deer heads on the wall and growled at her reflection in the curio cabinet.
Finally, the lock on the front door clicked, and Court slowly walked in. She leapt forward and then slowly crawled, unsure of this human that had walked in. Court immediately went to his knees and our little fur baby cautiously, then joyfully licked his face as she met her fur-daddy.
As I watched him hold and pet her, I knew that Shelby (renamed as Penny shortly after) was the little furry element that our small family had been missing.
Jess and the Outdoors 