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Deb chuckled. “Looks like he’s picked you. What do you think?” I shared a glance with Emma and it was one of those moments where we didn’t need words.
“He’s ours,” I said. I didn't even think to ask what kind of dog he was.
“I know we weren’t planning on taking a dog today, but look at him,” I said to Emma as Deb went to process our paperwork.
“I know,” Emma said as the puppy ran to a corner and grabbed a squeaky toy, bringing it back and dropping it at her feet, looking up expectantly. He really did have extraordinary eyes. His face was a little smushed, but his ears were enormous.
“At least he won’t need a lot of grooming, since he has short hair,” Emma said.
“Right. Oh look, he’s got a heart on his belly.” The puppy had rolled onto his back and was looking at both of us as if we knew what he expected us to do.
“He does,” Emma said, scratching his belly as his eyes closed in bliss.
Deb came back and told us that we’d been approved and gave us a bunch of information about vaccinations and food and I let Emma handle most of that since she was the one who would actually remember to make the appointments with the vet and keep them.
Since we didn’t have any supplies for our new addition, we bought a bag of food, a carrier, and more toys than the puppy would ever need from the shelter.
“Here’s some information on local trainers and classes,” Deb said as she put our new addition into a carrier for the trip home.
Emma and I called a car and I worried the driver would be unhappy about the puppy, but the woman who came to pick us up exclaimed how cute he was and helped us get everything in the car and gave us tips on the ride back to our apartment.
“We have a dog,” Emma said, as we walked through the door. We had to make a few trips to get everything upstairs, but once we did, I set the carrier down.
“So, I think we should puppy proof this place before we let him out? Maybe we can put him in the bathroom for now,” I said, as if I knew what I was talking about.
Emma agreed, so we moved everything in the bathroom out of chewing range and then went like tornados through the rest of the apartment, trying to make sure we moved anything he might get into, or gnaw on.
“I mean, a little bit of chewing is going to happen. I just have to accept it. Chew marks will give our furniture character,” Emma said as I spread the toys out on the living room rug.
“You know what we forgot to get? Those wee-wee pads. And maybe we should get a gate and section it off before we let him have the run of the place,” I said. Crap. He was going to pee all over this place.
Emma stood up. “Right. Okay. I’m going to go get those and you stay here with him. He might be hungry or thirsty, so fill up his bowls.” Emma was already a nervous dog mom and it was cute as hell. I went into the bathroom and found our new baby crying, but as soon as he saw me, he skidded over and put his paws on my legs.
“Hey, baby. I’m sorry we had to put you in here. That wasn’t very nice, was it?” Not wanting to leave him again, I picked him up and just carried him to the kitchen with me as I washed out his new bowls and filled one with water and the other with food.
Emma came back a while later hauling a metal cage and a giant bag of pee pads.
“Okay, let’s set this up. How’s he doing?” I looked up from my position on the floor where he was asleep in my lap and making soft snoring noises.
“Help,” I said. “He’s so cute and I don’t want to move him.” Emma laughed and joined me on the floor.
“What are we going to call him?” she asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said, stroking his velvety ear. “What about Vegas?”
“I love it. Is that your name?” Emma said to the sleeping puppy whose eyes shot open and he abandoned me to let Emma know how much he had missed her.
“Is your name Vegas?” she asked him, and he barked twice. “That sounds like a yes.”
“Good enough for me,” I said, watching as Emma cooed and fussed over Vegas.
We set up a little puppy corner in the living room complete with blankets and toys and his food and water and wee-wee pads.
“I’ve never trained a dog before,” I said.
“Neither have I,” Emma said, as Vegas christened the floor before I could rush him to the wee-wee pad.
“This is going to be interesting,” I said.
