Visit my blog to read I LOVE MY DOG part I posted Sept 9th, 07. 
We made it through the weekend with Megan. After the first night hiding under my chair while we sat on the patio by the fireplace, she finaly relaxed and took a nap in her crate. She didn't exactly get used to the other dogs but as they left her alone, she at least wasn't terribly afraid of them. She also didn't get the hang of going to the bathroom outside. She figured out the dog door but when it came to her personal business, she would stick her head outside while her other end was peeing inside.
The day came when Anne was going to meet me at the shelter to take Megan. I packed Meg up in the car and drove the hour long commute to work. She was nervous in the car but being nervous was nothing new. I stationed her by tying her leash to the bottom of my desk. She immediately tried to bite the first person who tried to come over to say hello.
We managed to make it through the day without getting anyone bitten but when Anne finally came to meet her, she tried to bite Anne.
Now Anne is a hardcore rescuer who has taken some crazy little biting dogs in her day but Megan was a little bigger than she was used to. Ever the trooper, Anne still agreed to take her so I untied Megan and walked her to Anne's car. Anne's SUV was filled with crates of dogs heading to rescue and her own little chihuahua hopped around from seat to seat meeting all the newcomers.
Megan started to think that getting in this car wasn't such a good idea and I started thinking that picking Megan up wasn't such a good idea either given her attempts at biting most people she had met. I used my leash to make a quick muzzle to keep myself safe while I lifted her into the car. A quick muzzle is a way of looping the leash in such a way that you muzzle a dog's mouth safely shut and it easily falls off when you let go. Once in the car we shut the door. It was cool out and Anne had the engine on for heat and the windows cracked. To prevent her little wandering chihuahua from accidentally opening the windows she had the buttons that operate the windows disabled.
We walked back into the shelter where Anne was going to get another dog or two. As we paused for a moment in the lobby, I saw a flash of fur from the corner of my eye outside of the glass door. Great. There was a loose dog outside. Split second later, another flash of fur shot up to the glass door. Oh my god. It was Megan.
"Get a leash," I yelled to Anne. I ran outside as Meg headed off across the lawn towards the street. There was a fence there, but there were plenty of holes from cars sliding down the hill during snow storms.
"Meggie," I shouted as I knelt down and opened my arms up wide. "Come here Meggie!"
She turned around and ran to me like a shot. She had no collar on. I looked over to Anne's car in the parking lot to see the window down and her leash and collar hanging from the open window. I held her by the scruff of her neck for lack of anything else to grab and walked her into an employee entrance. Once inside, I collapsed on the floor next to her, not letting her go. She was panting and her eyes were wide open with stress.
I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone to dial Paul. I had told him a hundred times that we didn't need another dog and that I wasn't keeping this dog. I just needed to get his opinion now that this dog had broken out of a car and tried to get back INTO the shelter. This was some sort of sign. That and Paul and I were the only two she hadn't yet tried to bite.
Voice mail.
"Sweetie, you will never believe what just happened. I tried to put Megan in Anne's car and she... I don't know, she broke out of the car. I caught her. She's safe but... Just call me."
Anne finally found me sitting on the floor through the glass door.
"Oh my god," she said in a panic. "Nothing like this has ever happened. This is crazy."
All we could think was that Megan had pushed herself through the partially opened window, forcing it to open. The window buttons shouldn't have worked. It was lucky her collar was a "quick snap" that broke open when she tumbled out, preventing her from possibly hanging herself.
"So what do you want to do," she asked.
My phone was silent. Paul would always call me back immediately if he was available. It wasn't like I needed permission to bring another dog home. Paul would welcome any animal with loving arms. It was just that, well... we didn't need another dog.
Once again we quick muzzled and packed Megan up into Anne's car. This time we put her in the back with no windows to escape from. Once Anne had pulled away, my phone rang. I told Paul what happened again.
"So, where is she now? She's coming home with you?" he asked.
"No, Anne took her."
"Awwww geez," he moaned. Well it was official. He liked her too. Dammit.
"We don't need another dog," I reminded him.
"Yeah, but after all that. That's like, crazy. She obviously didn't want to go."
Later on that day Anne left me a message that, although she wasn't happy about it, Megan was safe and sound in Anne's kennels and hadn't escaped or bitten anyone in the past hour and a half.
I drove home that night and reminded myself about a thousand times that we did not need another dog. I walked in the house to find Paul doing the dishes.
"Man, I can't believe you put her back in the car after that," he said.
"I tried to call you!"
"Since when do you need my permission to do anything."
"Well it's not a small thing just to bring another dog home."
"Ah, you do what you need to do. I'm not saying anything."
I paced around the house for about thirty minutes.
Fuck it.
Anne was getting dogs loaded in her car when she got my call.
I want my dog back.
Anne was likely very relieved. I can only imagine that she was not thrilled with Megan so far and was probably wondering how long it would take before she settled down and would be able to be adopted. We agreed to meet at a location where Anne would be doing adoptions that night. It was about an hour or so away from where I was. I hung up the phone.
"I'll be back."
"Ok, you do what you gotta do."
As I drove to meet Anne I thought about how much I didn't need another dog. I pulled into the parking lot and ran over the curb in a fit of distraction as I was trying to find Anne's car. When I found her she opened the back window of her car. Anne has since said she had never seen a dog leap into someone's arms the way that Megan leapt into mine. She literally jumped out of the car and into my arms, wrapping her paws around my neck in a bear hug.
She was my dog whether I wanted her or not.
Two years later she sleeps on my feet every night, plays all day with the other dogs, guards her food dish from the cats and poops on the kitchen floor. She still jumps up and down with joy every day that I come home from work.
She's my dog and I love her.
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