October 28, 2014 Patience, Lord.......grant me more patience.....NOW!

I guess most of you who know anything about me at all, know I like dogs.  I love dogs and have had dogs all of my life.  I can't imagine not having my faithful companion along with me to do all my outdoor activities.  They just add a lot to your day and your life.  Like Toby......he goes everywhere with me and loves all the photographic opportunities.  And....above shot of him really cracks me up.  And, no he didn't get buried in that wave.  He was enjoying some late day water though.
That brings me to my current issue and title of this........patience.  I finally decided, now that I am retired, to finally go for it and get a rescued dog instead of going out and buying a puppy.  It has been highly recommended by many.  I have seen mostly good results from rescues with a few not so good endings with a few.  But, when you get an older dog, they can come with issues and no amount of love will fix some of those issues.
I have been watching a number of places since Spring of this year......seriously.  I have looked at them off and on over the years....just to get an idea of what's out there.
Well, recently......I found one that seemed to be the perfect companion for me and Toby too.  It is about time he gets to train the young pup!  He got well trained by Casey.  :)  I found the dog through a Thunder Bay rescue group.  So, let the fun begin.  I found the dog.  I let it be known I was interested in meeting and seeing the dog.  The point of dogs on the sites is to be placed in loving homes.  I can do that.  And safe homes....I can also do that.  Well, after some emails and phone calls, I finally got to go to Canada and meet "my" chosen pup.  If the foster parents think I am ok, I then have to have my home inspected to see if it meets their qualifications, mostly for safety I guess.  They have a three page contract to sign when you get the dog, if you get it.  I'm fine with that.  There wasn't anything in it I wouldn't do anyway. 
But, here is the patience part.....the wait between emails and phone calls.  You don't know if you should go out and do anything because they might decide to come down and check you out.  But, from the conversation yesterday, I got the idea, since it was foster dad's day off, they might come down and do the home check today.  Well, it is now 4:00 p.m. my time and 5:00 their time......and not one peep!  I understand everything has to go through the lady in command.  Last email when I got home yesterday, he was awaiting her return call.  I had let him know, since she was under 6 months old, she didn't, in fact, need her rabies shot to come across the border.
Then, it was the idea that maybe they could bring her along when they did the home visit so I wouldn't have to drive all the way back up there again.  That issue is still unknown. 
So, I am seriously needing a good dose of patience right now.  Today was gloomy and I made a lot of cards for the Christmas Art Festival sale today.  I have stayed around in case something  would happen.  But.........wouldn't you think they could let you know something!!!
I am frustrated.  I think you probably have figured that out.  But, adopting a dog from a rescue group shouldn't have to be this difficult.
On the other hand, Toby got along with her just fine yesterday when they met.  That was a plus.  So many of the dogs I sort of thought would be ok were dogs that wanted to be the only dog in the house.  So, you know that AIN'T gonna work!
Well....I am still hoping to get the dog.  But, I hope at some time, they improve their communications skills.  Because, unless you live right there and can go bug them in person......I don't see how they ever get the dogs adopted out in a timely fashion.  I will keep you posted!

Here's one more of faithful Toby as we awaited sunset on that particular evening.