We learned this morning that Gus’s mother Hannah, is not pregnant and has no puppies. Robin Gibbons tried to breed her with Gus’s father Knox, but it didn’t take this time. I’m sorry for Robin, I know she was looking forward to another litter.

So were we.

So, some disappointment, for sure, but also time to think things through. Maria and I will talk about it and think about it.

Robin says she will try again in six months, so we can wait and see if that works. That’s one option.

I have also been exploring rescuing a Boston Terrier, but so far, I have found the rescue sites so obnoxious, intrusive and self-righteous that I mostly feel that I don’t wish to support them or try to get a dog from them.

Most seem to be child-haters and won’t adopt a puppy to a home with children. I find that almost bigoted.  Some won’t adopt to homes where people work, or where homes have elderly people,  or where homes don’t have wire-mesh fences. Some want four or five references, and endorsements from one or more vets.

To me, every person and family is individual, different, lumping everyone together like that does not serve the many dogs in great need.

Others rescue groups I have come across refuse to adopt to people who are not  wealthy or have a certain guaranteed income. I’m sure they all have good and polished rationales for treating people in this way, but I am quite turned off by it, these are not people I  want to get a dog from, if they don’t trust me after some conversations and information, I don’t trust them.

And they are asking many questions that are simply not anyone’s business, questions the government would not dare to ask. Do they have a right to take more of my privacy than Facebook?

It seems to me that rescue groups ought to make it as easy as possible for families (and families with children and people who work) to rescue dogs in need of a home.  I know children who would love to care for a puppy, and older people who would give a dog a wonderful home, and also make provisions if they passed away.

This self-righteous exclusion is not about the welfare of dogs, it is about the needs of people to feel superior to other people, that’s the way it strikes me, and sadly, I think that too often, that’s the way it is.

The me, the imperious rescue groups are no better than the backyard breeders who sell online. They seem to equate loving dogs with mistreating people.

I know there good and sincere rescue groups out there, so far, I have not found one. The group I am looking for is one that will question me thoroughly on the phone or in person, check me out online, and get a puppy to me as soon as is humanly possible. That person will be the one who loves dogs, not just themselves.

I could also contact other breeders, I’ve found some who charge up to $2,500 for a Boston Terrier puppy, the prices vary, some are $$1,450, some are much less. There are breeders who sell puppies online without even speaking to the buyer and ship them free the next day from anywhere in the country to anywhere else. I’ll pass on them.

And there are very good breeders who are just as snooty and exclusive as the rescue groups. Yuk. My disappointment is mostly about Robin, we really want to get another dog from her. Gus’s death from esophagus was very painful for her.

I am also open to a different breed if the right one appears, or to a stray or mutt from a shelter or sane rescue group.

The shelter people can be pretty obnoxious also, how curious it is that with millions of dogs in desperate need of homes, it has never been more difficult, expensive, or uncomfortable go get one. I’m not giving up my dignity to anybody, not even for a puppy.

I quite vividly remember when one would go to a shelter, find a dozen or so neat dogs there, talk to the workers and take a dog home. Is it really that difficult?

So Maria and I will talk about it and think about it. Waiting for Robin means waiting for nearly a year, with no certainty of success. That’s a lot of patience for me. Robin is worth it, so is Hannah, a sweet and and bright dog.

So I will continue to trawl around and talk with Maria and perhaps find a rational breeder or rescuer somewhere out there who has not traded humanity for ego.

I believe the right dog will make him or herself known to me, and me to him or her.