The (Relatively Short) Story of Reese

Vinay came home from work one day and decided that we should really take the kids to the state fair. So off we went one bright and cheery Saturday morning. First tent in is dogs, dogs and more dogs.

It's important to mention that my husband is not an animal person. Not that he dislikes them, but he has never expressed any interest in a dog, cat, bird, fish or turtle. Ever.

What does Vinay see? A beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog. He said, "If we ever got a dog, that's the dog for me."

I about fell over. Us? A dog? WHAT?

But, ever the opportunist, I jumped on the situation. Walking through the fair I tried to speak in code so the kids wouldn't overhear and get too excited. When we came home that night, all lights were green so I hopped online and did a bit of research about shedding and dander - Amiya's allergic and all (more on that shortly). I checked out dogs that are good with kids, don't have crazy medical expenses, won't chew up our furniture (or our children), and, most importantly, dogs that were available from rescue groups in our area.

We were set on a low-shedding, medium-sized dog and were hopeful that we could make this work. Amiya's sensitivities to animals seemed to be much better in the past year - we had big hopes she was growing out of it. We found an animal rescue group that had many mid-sized dogs and so we headed out to one of their meet the dogs sort of things the next morning. We met Cheryl, the rescue lady, and she said she had a couple of dogs that might be just right for us. So, we set up a time for the next Sunday to meet.

At home, we spent the week getting a crate, collar, leash, dishes, food, treats, and toys. Then we set off Sunday morning for the 1.5 hour drive to meet the dogs. They were all sweet, all with a story and all needing a family.

We finally settled on Reese - a mix of a Plott Hound and something else. Reese weighed in around 30 pounds - so not too big for the kids and was hard for the shelter to adopt out because he had a bum leg. He was great with kids and trained - p.e.r.f.e.c.t! So, we brought him home after stopping to get him a doggy spa treatment - shampoo, conditioner, blow dry, nails and ears - in the hopes of leaving all the extra dander outside of our home.

Vinay was a bit anxious about all of the dog stuff - mainly not quite sure how to be sure Reese wouldn't pee all over the house. All of that notwithstanding, Reese loved Vinay. He followed him all over the house and wanted to benexttohim all of the time.

He also loved the kids - and who wouldn't? They're kids: rowdy and gentle, quiet and not, patient and loving. He gave lots and lots of kisses - alternately delighting Kev who giggled every time and squeeging out Amiya who found it disgusting. They wanted to walk him constantly, play fetch, go on picnics (at left) and just be next to him. Reese was nothing but patient - even when Kev banged on his food dish or poked at his tail.

But then. The allergy monster hit. And it hit with a vengeance.

That's her eye (just in case you were not quite sure) and that gelatinous, juicy bit in the outer corner of her eye? Well, that'd be the mucous membrane completely inflamed and pissed off. This was after Zyrtec, after Benadryl and allergy eye drops, after constant hand-washing, constant not kissing, petting or roughhousing with the dog. (And really, if we didn't want to have a pet that the kids could kiss, pet or roughhouse with, we'd have just gotten another fish.)

From a little further back, so you can see the real deal. Not pretty. And aside from the horrible allergic reaction, you can see in her eyes that she was not feeling good about any of it.

So, we had to take Reese back. It sucked. He was a sweetheart of a dog and would have been a great pet for our family. But, on the second (and last) morning he was here with us, Amiya walked out of her bedroom with her hands in the air so she wouldn't touch him and he couldn't touch her. That's no way to live and we're not about to make her sick by introducing something she's allergic to and then giving her medication to make her better. If we don't have a dog, she's not sick. Easy enough for now.

We have an appointment with an allergist in a few weeks to talk about this situation because her reaction (view pictures if you've forgotten already) was so severe. Hopefully we'll find out if there's any hope with a hypo-allergenic dog or if we are a family of dog lovers from afar.

And that is the (not short on paper but) short story of Reese.