Current mood:

jubilant

Well, that was fast.
Gramma now has a dachshund. Just not the one she saw on TV.

Shade has known pretty much since we've been friends how badly Gramma wants another dog (preferably dachshund, but she wasn't too picky on breed, provided it was fairly small, well-behaved, and cat-friendly), but it wasn't until recently that Grampa tentatively agreed now that Mom was basically living with them part-time. So he went to ask the woman from whom he got Cricket if Cricket's chihuahua/dachshund brother was still available. Literally in the middle of the sentence "Hey, is Cricket's bro-", he looked down and noticed she was holding a long-haired black-and-tan miniature dachshund at the end of a leash.

His name is Shadow (yes, like Shade's cat), and he is between 4-6 years old, perfectly housebroken, vaccinated, microchipped, and cat-friendly. In other words, PERFECT. The only reason he was surrendered was because his owner moved to an apartment and he would incessantly bark all. Day. Long if he was left alone, but since Gramma is home virtually all the time except for maybe doctor's appointments, and Mom or Grampa is always with her, he is guaranteed to have company 99.9% of the time. Plus they live way the hell out in the woods where he could bark his fool head off and no one would care.

Shade immediately called me at work, and I passed the phone to Grampa, to whom all this information was related. Once it was understood that he could return the dog if things didn't work out, he agreed to take Shadow. After some discussion with the foster mother (and notifying Mom, who was at the house), it was settled that Shade would deliver the dog directly to Gramma as a kind of surprise gift.

And oh MAN was she surprised. Shade said she was a little confused--but hopeful!--when he showed up with Shadow in tow, but once Mom explained that Gramma could keep the dog if she liked, Gramma started crying in sheer joy. As Shade put it, "She was incoherent in her delight." I don't think she could have been happier if you'd handed her a basketful of puppies.

(Plus as Grampa put it, "You've always wanted a longhair, right?" Gramma burst into further tears at that. :D)

And, since I found out that the dog was surrendered September 14th and has been in the shelter for over half a year...well, Gramma's not the only one who's received a gift. (Although why such a beautiful, well-mannered--Gramma used the word "gentleman" to describe him--well-trained small* dog had to languish homeless for months, I can't imagine.)




*Small dogs are easier to rehome than large ones, for obvious reasons such as space and economy.