Penelope, unlike me, is a natural athlete & runner. I have only become one through sheer determination and occasionally brazen stupidity.
But how did Penelope come into our lives? We moved from Baltimore city to a small neighborhood in Towson called Rodger's Forge. The Forge, as we super cool residents call it, is about the most dog/kid friendly place on earth. Literally every house on our block has a dog and the same for our neighbors across the alley. In fact, when we had bought our house a friend and former Forge resident said to me, "You're moving to the Forge- Congrats! Do you have a dog?" "Umm no..." I said quizzically to which he said, "Well if you live in Rodgers Forge, you HAVE to have a dog!" So what did we do? We got a dog.
After much discussion and one brief stint as fosters to a rescued Pug (with major issues) that almost required an appearance on the show "It's Me or the Dog" for Justin (as in I needed to choose one) we determined we were ready for a dog. Justin has always wanted a German Shepherd, but was also willing to go the Golden Retriever route. I was about about the Golden Retriever idea so we began to look. At first with breeders and then after thinking of the cost and the 1,000s of homeless dogs at rescues.
We found Penny on Petfinder through the rescue group K-9 Lifesavers and were intrigued. Actually we found her brother, but when we inquired about him they informed us that he wasn't available because he was so sweet the foster family had decided to keep him. The sister, Peaches, however was still available and had an equally kind temperment. She was being boarded at a facility just over the Chesapeake Bay bridge, but would be going to an adoption event Sunday and would surely be adopted.
Somehow that stoked my competitive instinct and I called Justin from work that Tuesday and said, we need to go to Kent Narrows tonight to see this 6 month old puppy. Justin said ok, but on the condition "We are NOT going to get the first dog we look at. This is just to look, we aren't bringing her home." I agreed whole-heartedly, while simultaneously lying through my teeth. If she was sweet, no shot I was going home without her.
We hauled ass across the Bay Bridge (well over an hour drive) and when we finally got there, the woman brought this timid pup from the back. She kind of slinked up to us. She was smaller than we expected (like you shrank a Golden Retriever), but so cute. As she got to my feet so rolled onto her back to have her belly rubbed- GAME OVER. Justin knew it too. After looking at my face as I fell to the ground to pet this adorable pup, he said "what time does Petsmart close? We better make sure we get there before it closes for a crate etc." Mind you we had nothing- no collar, leash, food, NADA. But I'll be damned if I'd go another night without her. Justin was equally smitten and so with a borrowed collar and leash we loaded her into the car and headed home.
On the drive home, we tried to figure out a name because neither of us could imagine screaming "PEACHES" in the middle of a field trying to get her to come back to us. I know she was a rescue from a Georgia farm so I get the name, but yea no shot. So Justin came up with Penelope from Homer's Illiad. Penelope was Odysseus's wife and remained loyal to him forever despite his prolonged absence. Penny for short- works well because she's kind of a light copper color too. PERFECT.
She was shy and timid, but such a lover right from the get-go. My kind of dog, she immediately took to my favorite "trick" - Snuggle - and was a joy to have in the house. Lucky for us, she was crate trained and house broken and she immediately added so much life and fun to our house (our cat feels otherwise). Justin and I battled for her love and affection, but turns out the key to her heart would be running.... victory Katharine!
Her first week with us, she scared us after coming down with pneumonia and cost us a pretty penny at the Pet ER. She was sick and sad and I was even more smitten, dutifully giving her antibiotics and steam baths to help remove her congestion. She recovered fully and as she settled into our house her inner puppy came back. She began to play and romp and had boundless energy.
What better outlet for an energetic pup than running?? And so it began.....
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