{"id":37839,"date":"2018-03-01T18:14:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T00:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/?p=37839"},"modified":"2018-03-04T07:22:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T13:22:36","slug":"bonita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/bonita\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonita"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bonita (beautiful) is a mixed breed 11-year-old female. She’s had the same name all her life and I like it well enough, so I’m not changing it.<\/p>\n

So what brought us together? I was lonely. That’s quite a new feeling for me.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago this fall, I moved out on my own. I wasn’t alone then since a colleague very generously gave me a hedgehog (!). Two years later, I adopted Tabitha. Three years later, I adopted Samuel (who died unexpectedly), and then four years after that, I adopted Neelix. So I had a presence in my home for a solid 15 years, to when I lost Tabitha five years ago this spring and Neelix five years ago this fall (already!).<\/p>\n

I didn’t have time in the couple of years after to be lonely as I was in places where I had friends and also access to pets. Same thing on my European adventure that already feels so far away. After, I landed here and had a dog for six months. And then, boom, I’m rattling around in a huge house all by myself and not in a state of mind to go out and meet people, which is really hard for me.<\/p>\n

So I began to look into getting an older cat, so I wouldn’t have a super long-term commitment. But this is not a cat-friendly house (I don’t own most of the furniture for one thing!) and I didn’t want to have to deal with a litter box. I also wasn’t delusional enough to think that my walled in garden would keep a cat in.<\/p>\n

It was a relief to admit to myself that I wanted a dog — a bit more personality and a child-like innocence in the house, a creature that I could pamper and that would appreciate my effort. But young dogs are so much work and I didn’t want to be tied down for years. I know I’m not going anywhere for the next couple of years — I’m in nesting, recharging, and money-making mode right now. I was talking about this with a friend and she suggested adopting a senior dog. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself! I would be giving an old dog a second chance and home where it would be loved in its golden years while only tying myself down for likely no more than five years. Moreover, this house is ideal for a dog and I know my landlady was disappointed not to be renting to a dog owner, so no worries on that end. The decision was made!<\/p>\n

I did some research and found a wonderful refuge south of M\u00e9rida, Evoluci\u00f3n<\/a>. These folks do amazing work providing a home to dogs who would otherwise not have anywhere else to go. They keep their dogs long-term — my Bonita had been there going on ten years!<\/p>\n

Like when I adopted Tabitha, I had to go through a thorough vetting process, including a home inspection, which happened last Sunday after my Saturday visit to the refuge. The refuge is currently home to around 200 dogs and is spotless. The dogs are treated very well by an army of staff and volunteers. I was presented first to a dog who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. Since I’m pretty much the pet whisperer, I knew he wasn’t the one. Next up was Bonita who was curious and affectionate without it seeming like she’s that way with absolutely anyone. I knew she was it. They thought she was eight or nine, but after some digging on their site, I came to learn that she’s ten or eleven. Bit older than I wanted, but not a reason not to take her in.<\/p>\n

Next up was for her to go to the vet, which was supposed to happen Monday, but didn’t happen until Wednesday (the refuge is busy<\/em>!). As expected, she’s got a few issues, but nothing some antibiotics and TLC won’t cure. So I said I would still take her in and they promised to drop her off today. So first thing this morning, I headed out to get the minimum I needed to receive her — I didn’t want to go too crazy until I know exactly what she needs and what her personality is like, but at least she has a cosy bed and some toys.<\/p>\n

This is quite an adventure I’m embarking on. It doesn’t feel real yet. But I’m sure that a moment will come in the next few weeks when I won’t remember life without her.<\/p>\n

\u00a1Bienvenida, cari\u00f1o!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Bonita (beautiful) is a mixed breed 11-year-old female. She’s had the same name all her life and I like it well enough, so I’m not changing it. So what brought us together? I was lonely. That’s quite a new feeling for me. Twenty years ago this fall, I moved out on my own. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[895],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-merida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37839"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37869,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37839\/revisions\/37869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}