KAYA'S ADOPTION STORY

Kaya's adoption was very deliberate, as opposed to Norman's which was a bit more should I, shouldn't I? After 6 years of living abroad and a year of staying with family and friends, I had finally signed a lease on an apartment of my own. My only criteria for my new place was for it to not be in the hood, not crazy expensive and pet-friendly with no BS breed or size restrictions. So before I had even packed my bags to move out of my friends' place, I was on the internet, hunting for the perfect dog. My only criteria for my future pup was pit or pit-mix and I was hoping to find a golden brindle after falling for one on a rescue site who had already been adopted.

So I laid on my little pull-out chair-bed and stared at my laptop screen, checking and rechecking Petfinder, Craigslist and all the local rescue sites. Finally, I came across an ad on CL posted by the San Francisco shelter with 2 brindle pittie sister puppies. I liked both of them, but was really drawn to Kaya (then Daisy). Was it that mischievous twinkle in her eye?

I had planned to be at the shelter by opening time the next morning, but my friends had made breakfast and I felt too guilty not to spend time with them since they were already bummed that I was moving out. I also didn't have the balls to tell them I was adopting a dog yet, in fear that they would suggest I get more settled first. It turned out to be really stupid that I held back because they were thrilled when I finally told them!

Anyways, I finally made it to the shelter several hours after they opened and of course, I was panicking that my adorable puppy had already been snatched up. But they told me to walk through the kennels and the two puppies were in the third kennel down the first hall. I was thrilled when I saw them because while her sister was leaping up and down against the fence with glee, Kaya was on her bed, happily chewing on a toy. In my mind, I thought this must mean that she would be the calmer of the two, but in reality it might have just been a coincidence of who was where when I walked up.

I'm not really calm...I promise it's a front.

They let me play with her in a little room. She spent the whole time climbing on me, trying to bite my earrings and necklace off, gnawing on her info sheet, jumping on the bench and table, trying to chew my purse and giving me scrappy puppy kisses. None of it mattered. Truth be told, I was sold the second I laid eyes on her.

I was eager to adopt her right then and there, but they insisted on doing a home check because she was a pit mix. However, they did not want to drive across the bay to Oakland so they agreed to let me video my yard to show that it had a secure fence. By then I did not have enough time to get home and back before closing, but with another hour 'til they shut, I was so worried someone else would swoop in and get her. I asked if I could pay to put a hold on her, but they said no.

Who wouldn't want to swoop in and adopt her first?

I barely got any sleep that night. I was able to waste a lot of time looking up female dog names online. I decided on the name Blaze because she looked like a little fireball and she had a white blaze down her face like a horse, but my friends thought it was too masculine. I finally decided to scroll through my iTunes for inspiration and scanned past the Bob Marley song, Kaya. I thought it would be the perfect name and hoped she would be cool and calm like the song suggests...oh well!

Blaze?

The next morning I went to my new place to video the fence. I was relieved that they weren't coming to do a home check because I thought they might be concerned about the apartment being empty apart from an airbed and a pile of clothes! Then I immediately became worried because part of the fence was only 3 feet high due to the elevated deck, though there was a 10 foot drop on the other side. I took the video and held my breath.

Fence...what fence? I'm happy right here...

So I was on my way to the shelter and of course there was traffic which was pushing me past their opening time. I even got on the phone to tell them I was coming for her and of course I did not get through to anyone. When I came in, they seemed surprised that I followed through and came back so quickly. I nervously showed them the video, but everything went well and she was mine! I remember when they asked me if I wanted to change her name for the paperwork and when I said Kaya out loud to them, it really dawned on me that this was actually happening. The only bummer was that I had to wait a few days for her to be spayed, but I played with her in the little room again and she nearly ate her adoption papers!

The first picture I ever took of Kaya.

Sweet freedom!

When I came back to get her, I still remember someone saying to me, "Are you ready for this?" And in my mind I thought, can it really be that hard? And we walked out the door. I put her on the passenger seat of my car and by the time I was sitting in the driver's seat, she was on my lap with her head resting on my shoulder. I pulled away and she gave me a kiss. It was like a scene from a movie!

But the magical moment quickly ended. When we were only a couple blocks away, she scrambled off my lap. I was a bit disspointed but then she puked all over the gear shift and e-brake. Oops. She relocated to the floor in the back and I think she threw up again before we got home:( But there we were. All I had was a (smelly) car, an almost empty apartment and a dog. And it was perfect.

I later found this facebook album with her and her sister. There were several commenters including the woman who rescued the litter, her foster momma and volunteers. One guy wrote, "This is a super smart little dog." Another volunteer wrote, "I took these two beautiful girls out yesterday. They are SO sweet. They are little shy for a little bit, especially when you separate them, but quickly warm up." Uh...what? I never saw an ounce of shyness in her! Her foster wrote, "These two pups are adorable, fun, affectionate girls." It turns out that Kaya's sister was adopted soon after and her 2 brothers that I never met were adopted even before the sisters were!

Related Posts:
Kaya: aka Pretty Little Baby
Norman's Adoption Story
Gina: aka Sweet Baby G, Squeaker, G Kitty