Pup 12: Sabrina [Now Stella]

May 18, 2006

Last night I got an e-mail from Milo’s director, Lynne:

Sabrina and a small Dalmation and her pup need a ride to (Berkeley) TOMORrow!? THE SHELTER WOULD NOT HOLD THEM … iT IS A COUPLKE HOURS FROM HERE . . . WE CAN PROVIDE GAS MONEY, CRATES …. PLEAAASE LET ME KNOW ASAP – IT HAS TO BE MID DAY ….!?

Attached was this picture. It was love at first sight:

I volunteered to drive but fortunately someone else managed to whisk Sabrina from the pound just hours before the appointed time of her meeting with the needle.

While that was happening I was returning my foster puppies to the adoption center. Usually I like a little time off between dogs, but for a reason I don’t understand that image of Sabrina kept coming back to me.

So this afternoon I went back to introduce myself. She had just arrived and was nervous and reserved, but I liked her instantly and decided to foster her — despite the caution from the agency that they knew little about her character.

As we headed home a bunch of passing cars panicked her. She reared back, slipped her collar and dashed toward the avenue. When I caught up with her half a block later, she rolled on her back and let me reattach her to the vacant leash. Here she is shortly after we got home:

May 19, 2006

Poor Sabrina: Like many rescued dogs she has her share of problems. She has, I think, a bladder infection (at least I hope that’s why she’s peed on my floor four times despite frequent opportunities to do so outside). She’s also in heat. The pet supply store yielded a clever device that makes things much easier on that front (back?):

May 23, 2006

Sabrina really needs a new name. Among the current possibilities are Mamie, Eula, Bayla, Katie, Lizzy, Miss Moe, Annie, Thalia, Maggie, Bella, Izzy, Beckley, Taca, Lutie, Myrtle, Finney, Luna, Julep, Hoyt-Schermerhorn, Lola, Coney, Bella, Minnie, Hazel, Slip Jig, Della, Harper, Daisy, Winnie, Ethel, Lucy, Willoughby, Brooklyn, Otter, Badger, and a few score others. Perhaps inspiration will come as we work together on a crossword puzzle.

May 28, 2006

At last, the website shows that Sabrina-now-Stella is almost officially part of our menagerie.

May 31, 2006

Yesterday — my birthday — I took Stella to be spayed while I went to the beauty parlor to get the hair ripped off my face. The beauty parlor woman glopped all kinds of creams over my face. Unbeknownst to me, the stuff on my eyebrows was dye, and I was shocked by what I later saw in the mirror:

When Stella came home from the vet this morning, after a nausea session, she made me feel better about my freakish appearance by letting me put paper eyebrows on her:

June 6, 2006

Today I talked to Mom on the phone.

“So, what did you decide to name the dog?” she asked.

“Stella,” I replied.

“Oh, Ginna … WHY? What about ‘Beulah’? It’s like ‘Eula,’ which you liked …”

So here are a few more possible names for Stella: Eyebrow, Fiddle, Flora, Detour, Lottie, Fiction, Slideshow, Fastball, Gyro, Sprocket, Slider, Detour, Lula [Steve Wonder’s recently dead mother], Flounder, Tray Table, Anza, Two-Step, Pantsuit, Whatever.

[Next foster hound: Tony]

June 9, 2006

Today I officially adopted Stella. Minutes later, she pulled the stuffing out of the pig-pillow I’d made.