Kipper is a very special boy!  He is a puppy (<1 year in age) & a Corgi mix, and I personally think he may have some Daschaund in him too, since he is so long & skinny & has a similar face.

I picked Kipper up at 8:15AM, and he came BOUNDING out of the back, without a leash, straight toward me.  He was so excited that he legit lost his footing, toppled right over himself, did a little flying somersault, landed while still thinking he was running, got disoriented, did a side roll, then finally got it together and made it to me 🙂 Impressive entrance lol.

In the car, he was content right away…well sort of.  Content to be riding in the car but not content for the first ten mins with where he wanted to sit.  First he was a copilot.  Then a backset driver.  Then he tried to be the actual driver & sat on my lap!

Once home, we went straight up to my apartment because I was planning on packing some water & treats for him & then taking him to watch the PF Chang’s finishers.  I put him on the couch, gave him a belly rub….

….and within moments, the little guy was out for the count!

What happened to the “needs vigorous exercise” “little energy ball” all of the other volunteers talked about!?

At one point, while I was in the kitchen, he rolled over to his left, to look at me.  He wanted a belly rub!  I told him to hold on just one moment (I was doing dishes) & to also be careful to not roll over anymore since he was near the edge of the couch.  What did the sleepyhead do?!  Rolled over!  Rolled backward-head-first right off the side of the couch!!  Had he not been so quick on his feet, he could have hurt himself!  I ran right over & he just walked it off, looking mildly dazed & confused.  Then he wanted to go right back to lounging on the high couch– so brave!

After about 2 hours of dozing, he woke up, drank some water, and then decided he wanted to go outside.

So off we went– exploring!  During our explorations, we came across an unleashed dog (whose owner was about 100 meters away).  Kipper played with the dog for a bit, then walked up to me, stood on my feet, and looked up like “Okay, I’m done.  Pick me up please!”  And then after I picked him up, he just kept staring down at the other dog like it was a hyperactive weirdo.  (It was.)

Kipper was very energetic during our walk!  He investigated every thing!  He leaped everywhere, like a little frog!  At one point, he almost jumped into the water!!

Then we went back upstairs to pack our last things for our 11AM showing at Pet Club in Gilbert.  But oh wait….first we had to nap 🙂  The 20 minute walk really took a lot out of Kipper.

At Pet Club, Kipper was the star of the show!  A whole bunch of people came in to see him, after viewing him on the website!  Unfortunately, after peeing on all of the horse food, Kipper just wanted to cuddle with me & then sleep.

At one point, a really wonderful family came in with two children, a boy (9) and a girl (7).  The boy’s favorite from the website was Kipper, so he was really excited to see him in person!  When I tried to wake Kipper up & get him active so that he could interact more with the boy, he responded by curling up into a ball to sleep:

Smart move for better rest, but not when I’m trying to get you adopted!!  I felt like I was trying to wake up a teenage boy for high school– “Go away mom, geez!”

In order to leave Pet Club at 1PM, I literally had to scoop up the blanket, with him on it, and carry him out that way to the car.  What a little prince!  So spoiled!

At home, I put him on the couch, and first we had this:

Then we had this:

Adorable 🙂  He hung out for about 3 hours while I worked on my computer, read a book, and made some quinoa meatballs.  He also had a delicious “bacon & eggs” breakfast-for-lunch snack 🙂  Then it was time to go home 😦

I should have known something was up when he flat out refused to get on the elevator.  He knew that meant we were leaving, but I hadn’t realized that yet.  So I tried to take him down the stairs, but he just kept pulling back down the hall to my apartment.  (Side note!  When we came home from Pet Club he was jogging without his leash down the hallway, then came to a dead stop in front of my door!  He knew where home was!)  Eventually I carried him down to the main floor & then we went outside.

Once outside, we started to walk along the lake toward the front lot, where my car was.  He seemed okay, dilly-dadding a bit, but that was fine.  Then when we turned to the lot & my car was in sight, he started dry-heaving & wheezing.  I thought he was choking!  I obviously bent down to see if he was going to throw up, but his head was hung so low & he wouldn’t look at me & it was just like he was having an asthma attack!  He couldn’t breath!  I scooped him up & went so fast into the lobby, to get him water, in case he was choking.  He had no interest, but still couldn’t breath.  I called Deb (RESCUE lead) to ask if I should take him to the hospital & she said that when they had picked him up from the Maricopa County Animal Shelter, he had done the same thing– a sort of “backward cough” that was really scary, but due to anxiety.  She told me to just try and calm him down.  I had been stroking him the whole time, but now I knew what I had to do– I scooped him up and cradled him as closely & as tightly to me as I could, as I sat on the ground & told him what a good boy he was.  Immediately he stopped & was breathing normally again!  Like within five seconds flat.  Then I walked around the parking lot with my swaddled “baby” Kipper, rocking him, for about five minutes until I felt like he was okay enough to get in the car.

Once in the car, he sat with his shoulders so slumped & his head hung so low that it was touching the seat.  It was heart breaking.  He didn’t even want to look at me.  I feel like he felt like he had gotten adopted and gotten a home & now was being given up again, like it was bringing back his worst memories 😦

I stroked him the whole time & told him we were going back to see his friends, and suggested fun things he could do with his friends, and told him to tell his friends about some of the fun things we did today.  After 15 minutes we got to Dog Days Daycare, where he gets dropped off.

Inside the lobby, I went to put him down (he wanted to be carried again), but he refused to stand.  Once I sat down, he refused to get out of my lap.  Then they had to drag him away from me, and even as he was being dragged he went backward, staring at me, with his ears hanging sadly 😦

I had been trying to not cry ever since his panic attack because I knew I had to be strong for him, but right when the door shut I started to cry. I just felt like he had thought the whole day that he had found his new home & that was why he was so comfortable, and then he though I didn’t want him anymore & was returning him.  I don’t even know what else to say 😦 I wish I could adopt him.