The Home Inspectors

Today was home inspection day. It took me by surprise when the two inspectors got out of their cars, each with a Golden Retriever. Were they bringing me the dogs to choose from?

I had a hard time getting the inspectors to come in my house. Kelsey was barking and they were afraid. Doesn't everyone know that Kelsey is the world's sweetest, gentlest dog and if he's barking, it doesn't mean anything? They asked me to put him outside. This was not going well at all.

Once he was outside, they came in the house. One inspector demanded to know why Kelsey wasn't neutered. This was so not going well. I blamed the vet for saying it wasn't necessary. The truth is, I'm terrified of my dogs having surgery. As a nurse I know the things that can go wrong and since my dogs can't get out, I don't want to risk unnecessary surgery.

We went outside where the barking Kelsey was and I held on to him while they walked around. I was trying to comfort Kelsey by petting him and telling him that everything was okay. One of the inspectors said, "FYI, you're rewarding bad behavior." I started thinking along the lines that I could go to any breeder, get a puppy and not have to put up with this sh*t.

They loved my yard and started warming up once they saw the life my dogs live. They walked through my entire house and approved of the paw prints on my bed and couches. Once everyone sat down, Kelsey stopped barking. He must have found the two big, standing inspectors scary. Once they were close to his level, he was fine. They were able to pet him and see that he is a sweet, gentle dog.

Seeing that Kelsey was not a threat, they let their dogs off their leashes. The dogs were not up for adoption, they were just their personal dogs. I'm not sure why they brought their dogs. If they wanted to see how I interact with dogs, they could have just watched how I interact with my dogs. Strange dogs make me nervous, so I was on edge with the dogs there.

My dogs loved the new dogs, though. They were soon running around the yard together and one of the visitor dogs even got in the pond and laid down. The wet dog liked me. She sat next to my feet and leaned against me. It turned out that she was the test. The wet dog was extremely shy and would not go near strangers normally, but she liked me. That was proof that I was a dog person.

Because of the wet dog's personal okay, I was approved to adopt a Golden. I can have any dog I want.

I have sent an e-mail to inquire more about Taylor's personality. If it sounds like a good fit, I will adopt him. I hope that they deliver, because he's in San Diego. That's an even longer, harder drive than going to see Sarah. But if that doesn't work out, Henny or Billy would be fine too.