More travels with Annie: Bumps in road

Date published: 4/9/2005

IT HAS BEEN a month since I picked up my new dog at the shelter. It has been a long month, a month with a long trip planned for a working vacation.

You know how it is with vacations: You plan to do this and that, get things done, relax.

In my case, there were to be long hikes in the mountains; the first good rides on my new mountain bike; a chance to get to know the new neighbors at my Arizona home; late nights with quiet time to read without interruption other than a little stargazing; and strolls downtown to browse the stores and restaurants.

Nearly 6,000 miles later, and I am home. And nothing went according to those sweet dreams of plans. Nothing.

As I look out my back window on this lovely spring day, Annie, who made the trip with me, is happy and well. But Annie has been through some tough times. We made the trip together.

I had been out West a few days, taken a few walks with Annie, but it has been a wet spring there and our outings together were limited.

At the close of the first week, as the weather turned to spring and everything burst into bloom at once, I thought a change had come over Annie. She seemed listless, slept too much, had no interest in walks. And her appetite was ravenous. Even for a young dog, she seemed to be a bottomless pit of hunger.

And then I noticeda certain girth, a kind of swing, here and there in what had been a trim and fit physique.

"You get that dog to a vet!" commanded one of my most animal-savvy friends.

The vet confirmed the unthinkable: "Mr. Sullivan, Annie is pregnant. She's fairly advanced. When did you say you were driving back to Virginia?"

And to think, all I did was adopt a stray dog from the shelter. That's a good thing to do. The world is too full of homeless dogs and cats and I believe--now more than ever--that we should try to find homes for them while looking for pet companions for ourselves. Like most shelters, this one requires spaying of females for adoption.

Date published: 4/9/2005