Saturday, January 06, 2007
The Witching Hour
Although it is no longer near Halloween, this struck me as the perfect analogy for our puppy, Midnight.
Midnight the pup is a pit bull/lab mix who is about 3 1/2 months old now. She came into the shelter slightly under-aged, a dog whom no one wanted to take responsibility for. Midnight has been with us now for over a month (quite a while for such a cute pup!) While she is here, Midnight continues to be well socialized with all sorts of people and other dogs, to attend puppy training classes, and to play and grow daily. Midnight can fetch, Midnight can sit at doors, and Midnight can lie down and stay longer than most puppies her age.
Because Midnight is a pit mix, she has a special adoption procedure. Her new adopter must be over 21, and either own a home or have permission from a landlord to have a pit mix. An application, home check, and training classes with us are required. Midnight will go to her new family on trial adoption until she is finished with puppy training and then she will be able to be adopted. All members of Midnight's new family, including resident dogs, have to be here to meet her before an application can be given. While she is certainly still a puppy and needs consistent rules and training, Midnight is also a very good girl who deserves to have a home!
'The Witching Hour' (in mythology) is a time after dark, sometimes said to be near midnight, when those so inclined are most likely to see ghosts who do not materialize during the day. It is a time of 'hurry up and wait'. All activity comes to a halt, observations are made, and the events of the future are anticipated. The time right now is Midnight's Witching Hour. Midnight was in a hurry to come to us when she was a very little puppy. Now that she is here, though, she just has to sit and wait and wonder what it would be like to have a family of her own. In the mean time, she continues to go to puppy classes, perfect her obedience commands, and hope. Who will materialize as her forever home?
