Kirby

Back when Bunny and The Man lived in a spacious apartment with a view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol (that view is now gone, obstructed by many blocks of new condo towers), we were saving for a house. We called the savings the dog fund, because once we bought a house, we could then have a dog, someone who could love The Man unconditionally, because Dirtbunny is cold and heartless. Then we bought the house now known as Chez Nous. Then, we dithered for years before we got a dog. Eventually, friend of the family Fred would come to visit for a while when his humans went out of town. We love Fred, but he likes to get up early. As in EARLY. At 4 am, Bunny could say, "Go back to bed, Fred," and he would. But at 6 am, Fred was up, and would put his doggy snout in Bunny's face and snuffle her and breathe on her until she got up too. Also, The Man worried that he would end up doing all the doggy grunt work, such as managing puddles, picking up poop, and going out for walks.

The Man is very, very smart. Almost as smart as Dirtbunny.

Anyway, Fred's humans showed Bunny some dog rescue websites, and Bunny noticed that Lost Dog Rescue was at the Petsmart next to the Target at Seven Corners every Saturday. Bunny nagged. Bunny teased. Bunny whined. The Man, thinking of years of covering for Bunny's laziness, was resolute. Still, Bunny kept looking at the web. And then she saw Niles. He was adorable and pathetic. He even looked a little lost in his web photo.

And his little narrative was heartrending, with such schmoopie mush as "sweet little guy who must not have gotten much love because he doesn't seem to know what to do with it." Bunny was hooked. But The Man was stubborn.

For months, Bunny would look at Niles on the web and think about how sad he was and how much she loved him without even having met him. Months. Really. Like five months. Really.

Finally, Bunny and The Man had to go shopping at Target on a Saturday and Bunny sez Hey The Man, let's go next door and look at the dogs. And The Man sez OK. So we go next door and look at the doggies and who should be there but NILES! Joy joy joy!

I should mention here that not all the dogs go to all the adoption events every weekend, so it was a mighty profound coincidence that brought Bunny and Niles together on that March 25. We were meant to be together.

Niles came to live at Chez Nous that very same day. We had no dog bed, no dog food, no dog bowl, no nuthin. And he was terrified. He found a little table to hide under and he curled up into a ball and stayed there. We fished out an old blanket for him and made him a nest, we talked to him a little, we put Mozart on the stereo, we stroked him a little, but mostly, we left him alone. And he just stayed in his ball and trembled. (Later, The Man came to call that particular posture "Going Turtle.") He wouldn't eat any dinner or drink any water. He would take a lump of cheese, but otherwise, he went full-on turtle. That night, we carried his nest into the bedroom and put him on it, and he slept there like a little angel.

By Monday, I discovered that his real name was Kirby, not Niles. He was still a big turtle, but he was starting to eat a little. After supper, I put his blankie on the sofa net to me, then I put him on the blankie and he would go turtle, but I would slowly scratch his neck and ears while I watched TV. His ears are amazing. I could do it for an hour without getting tired. After a few days, he decided maybe this forever home was not such a bad place. By Tuesday, he gave me the tiniest flick of a tail wag when I got home from work. I thought I might explode from love and happiness.

Kirby has lived here for about 19 months now. He is my first dog, and I am devoted to him, as he is to me. He follows me everywhere and always wants to be near me. He is, by far, Bunny's biggest fan, and he's also Bunny's favorite boy. And The Man, as he predicted, does nearly all of the doggy scut work.