Our beagle-hound mix Porter is turning three in August, while Rosie the Mystery Mutt is turning two. Given our penchant for pacing our children out a year at a time, we thought it was a good opportunity to go looking for another puppy. I know that three and two isn’t very old. However, we didn’t want to wait until Porter and Rosie were “real” adult dogs before we adopted a new family member. We wanted to make sure our two dogs would be able — and willing — to help us raise whomever we brought home. I remember how much easier it was to train Rosie about “inside” vs “outside,” “upstairs” vs “downstairs,” etc with Porter along to show her what was what.
On Saturday the 23rd, Lady Jaye and I drove up to the Washington DC Animal Rescue League, which has been in existence since 1914. WARL has a marvelous facility, which was recently renovated to the tune of four million dollars. The privately-funded shelter features classical music and climate controlled conditions for all of the animals. There is an on-site vet facility complete with operating room. The dog section of the shelter had a waterfall and soft lighting. WARL felt more like a meditation center than an animal shelter. The techniques seem to work; this was the only shelter I’ve ever been to where every dog wasn’t barking at the top of its lungs.
We had to take Porter and Rosie with us for an interaction interview, so we all piled in the Montero and took the two hour drive up to the heart of DC. We sat in the lobby for about an hour before someone could speak with us. In the meantime, Lady Jaye sat with both of our kids while I went in to talk to a border collie mix pup named Nicole.
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