Okay, so I arrived at the shelter (387 miles from home, but who's counting?) at 1:00 just to make sure I could find it and then drove around the cute town until 1:30. It was hot, so I parked in the shade away from the building and sat in my car. About five minutes later a woman pulls up next to me, gets out of her car, walks to the building texting on her cell phone. So I get out of my car and wander around. Later a man pulls up and sits on a bench with this woman. Several other cars show up. I'm getting anxious by then. Are they all here for the same dog? (It's a small shelter run by all volunteers.)
Yes, they're all here for the same dog. I tell myself that whatever God decides I'm fine with. Two couples leave but the first woman and man are there for the Wheaten. We both are "nice" people, but after an hour, the President of the shelter decides on me simply because I e-mailed her first and showed up first.
So we did the paper work, did a test drive to make sure he rode well in the car and took off for home. Six and a half hours later we arrived last night at 10:15 to the greeting committee of my husband, and two daughters 19 and 22. Other than being stinky from being in the shelter since July 6 (no one advertised him until last week!) he was a complete gentleman in the car. We stopped twice, once at PetSmart to buy some supplies and everyone loved him, very friendly to everyone.
He is too tall to be a greatly bred Wheaten and has a little coarse hair along the ridge of his back. But very cute and a gentle giant. We took him and our spaniel mix girl (in two cars) across the street to a business parking lot to introduce them on neutral territory (both are altered). It went okay, but he is big and I didn't want to let him get too close to her just yet. So we walked parallel with distance between them and then some sniffing of each other occurred, then back home. We kept him separated from other animals in the solarium with tile floor, screen door to the outside, and I got up at 6:30 and he was great! No mess, did his business outside and now is laying down on the solarium floor (my home office is in this room) so he's not alone.
He found the toy basket and picked out some stuffed animals and loves chewing on a big bone.
Heidi, we've had an Airedale in the past and would get him groomed a couple times a year. What do you do with your girl trimming-wise? I'm not sure how "formal" he should be clipped. The AKC site shows the severe terrier look, but that seems to take away from that cute Wheaten look. His hair is 4 inches long, so he needs trimming.
Thanks everyone for your help and support! It was an exhausting, nerve-wracking day but I'm sure he slept better here than in the shelter. I'll let you know what we name him. I told my daughter to think of Irish male authors for names, so my husband suggested "Bono" or "Guiness"! Men!
