What would Cesar do?

In preparation for getting a puppy, we turned to what seems like the best source of information: Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. If you've ever seen his show, you know that you want the man to come live in your house while he trains your dog to perfection, and not leave before he transfers his mojo to you. He says it's all about the energy you give off. I say he's magical.

Since he can't come to our house, we bought one of his books and have been reading it religiously. We kept it in mind yesterday when we went to visit Potential Puppy #2 (#1 having been sold at the market already). When choosing a puppy, Cesar says you should look for one with medium energy - not the one who is wildly excited to see you. So when we met the dog (Omelette is his current name) and he refused to even be in the same room with us for most of our visit, we thought, "What would Cesar think of this?"

I think he would wisely realize that when the owner said that he is, "a quiet and obedient dog who doesn't bark" what she really should have said was, "He's terrified of being touched because of his time on the streets away from all living beings." You shouldn't choose the wild puppy, but you also shouldn't choose the one who refuses to come to you.

The kids were heartbroken, especially Megan, but we think we made a good choice to say no. There's a dog market north of us and a friend of ours who raises dogs and frequents the market has promised to take us there soon. It's just too bad we couldn't take advantage of this time of quarantine to adjust to a dog. It has given us a lot of time to prepare though!