Pet Adoption: To Give is to Receive

We get compliments on our dog each time we take her out. "Wow! What kind of dog is that? She's so cool!" or "She's gorgeous!" I am always amused by the genuine admiration in their voices. Because she is nothing special, really. A comical blend of a boxer father and a beagle mother. She has her father's gorgeous chocolate brindle coat with sophisticated markings of white, and his bold, square, muscular build. Beagle lovers surprise me, because they recognize the beagle in her right away. She is too big for a beagle, too square, has nothing like the coloring of a beagle. But they see it in her very long nose and torso. She is like a stunted giant, short but huge-squatty, muscular legs, a funny stretched out length from the tip of her nose to the tip of her long tail, and a big square head and muzzle. Either people think she's beautiful, or they think she's the funniest thing they've ever seen. I have never seen anyone get so much attention for their dog as we get for Bo.

She's got a great personality. A beagle personality. She's very serene and loving. She wants to be a lap-dog so badly. She will never learn that we do not want her boxer-sized tongue to be slathered beagle-like all over our bodies every second of the day. It can be impossible to pet her, because she would rather lick your hand than have her head stroked. You just can't escape her giant, determined tongue.

She was one of those accident broods of puppies that the owners try for weeks to give away to anyone who will take the mistake off their hands. One of those dogs to whom anything might happen if someone isn't willing to adopt her. I'm so glad we did. She has added so much to our family. We never had a moment's concern about her when our daughter was born. She loves kids now that we have a kid, simply because she thinks our daughter is so cool and so, to her, all kids must be cool. She puts up with all kinds of play and affection that a two-year-old will do to a dog. She has so much character, like a unique little family member, and the years we've had her have provided us with fascination. What will she look like when she is full-grown? What about her did she get from the beagle and what from the boxer? She is so long and her legs are so short-will she be able to climb the stairs to our new apartment? Yep. She's great with stairs. And swimming, and running. And she looks darn funny doing it. She's been there for me when my daughter is asleep at night and my husband is working late and things get a little creepy outside in the dark.

We got her on a total whim. We already had one dog and I pleaded with my husband that he, the dog, needed a girlfriend. We even picked up Bo's kid sister for some friends of ours who had, ironically enough, been debating that she would like a beagle and he would like a boxer. They laughed and said a mix of the two would solve their dilemma. They still have their adopted puppy, too. She's become an integrated part of their family. The two dogs look nothing alike. They're both short and stocky, but Bo is long and dark and square, and Roxy is light with black boxer markings and is a round butterball. Mixed breeds provide a unique adoption experience because when you get them as puppies, you can't be quite sure what they will look like when they're grown.

There are so many dogs like Bo in the world-so easy to attain and so worth keeping around. A full-breed dog, of course, can be just as wonderful-whether you rescue one from a shelter, or purchase one from a breeder. My point is just this: all dogs up for adoption, in shelters or in cardboard boxes in a parking lot, need good homes, and can make good homes better.