So...we finally got The Kid a dog. Ever since we moved to Auburn, we've been thinking about getting a dog, and have been waiting for the right moment and the right little critter to come along. Well, that happened about 2 weeks ago. Early one morning, at about 3 am, while I was on the overnight emergency rotation, I was making my rounds and checking on all the patients in the ICU wards. I saw a little scruffy dog sleeping in one of the cages, he was one of the cutest dogs I had ever seen (aside from Sonja, of course). I checked his clinician's orders to see why he was there. "Castration" was the only thing listed on the front of his orders, and I saw that he was a Lee County Humane Society dog. I mentioned something to the night tech about how cute he was, and she said that he was still looking for a home...I came home that morning and told Jim about him. In the next 24 hours, there was a short intro between Gromit and Jim, a 2 am scare about him already having a home, an 8 am joyous message about his other adoption falling through that I received while in rounds with my fellow clinicians, and an impromptu trip to the human society. Gromit was ours the next morning at 10 am... He's about 1 year old, and completely housebroken. We thought about names for quite a while, but Gromit just seemed to fit him best (and I am a HUGE Wallace and Gromit fan).

Gromit is one of the happiest dogs I have ever seen. All he wants to do it sit in our lap, give kisses, and play with his toys. Oh, and his other most favortie activities are going to the park, riding in the car (see picture above), and chasing The Kid. The Kid usually just hisses and karate attacks him (quick literary aside...the first day when I saw how The Kid dealt with Gromit-by karate attacking him, all I could think about was John Irving's book "A Prayer for Owen Meany." This is one of my all time favorite books, and I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't read it, all I can say is that it seemed like all The Kid's karate attacks on us and the blanket were for a good reason...) . Gromit doesn't seem to mind her, he tries over and over again to be friends with her. We figure it's good for her to get chased by the dog every now and then, since she's gained quite a bit of weight since we first found her (poor fat The Kid, it's not her fault!) Gromit has learned several commands in the short time we've had him, and has also gotten over the nasty cough he had when we first adopted him (I love having the power to medicate my own animals!). Tomorrow he is going back to work with me for his vaccinations, heartworm test (cross your fingers everyone, let's hope he's negative), and a microchip. The it'll be back to chasing The Kid and the frogs in the front yard, and being a cute little dog.

More Gromit stories to follow...

Labels: pets