Luna (3-month old Border Collie mix)
In my latest novel, The Weredog Whisperer, the Tidwells adopt a white pit bull terrier from the animal shelter and name her Luna. Luna is bitten by a weredog while on vacation with her new family down in Sugar Sand Beach, Florida and transforms into a teenaged girl during the full moon. Which would technically make her a were-daughter rather than a weredog.
My own dog, Moxie, a white with brindled spots American Staffordshire Terrier (aka American Pit Bull Terrier) inspired the character of Luna both in appearance and behavior. We adopted her from the Humane Society of Elmore County back in 2007 and she's been a fantastic dog.
This past weekend, my intuition told me to stop at that same animal shelter. This is how we acquire our companion animals--they either show up at our door (literally) or I get this gut feeling, gut knowing, intuition, psychic hotline flash, sixth sense...or whatever you want to call it, and "find" the animal that is supposed to come live with us. Some people mistakenly think that I "collect" animals and want to take in any cat, dog, reptile, etc that is stray or needs to be rehomed. But no. I'm very picky and it's all about gut feeling. It has to be "the right" animal. It's one of those "I know it when I see it" things.
For several weeks now, I've had that gut feeling that another animal was coming to live with us. But I had no idea what species it would be. I knew we couldn't take on another cat. When we have more than 3 cats in the house, at least one will get upset and the pissing contests begin. I love my critters, but I also love living like a human being and not in a giant animal toilet. So we have a moratorium on cats until attrition does its thing and we're down to only two cats total.
So I'm wandering through the shelter asking each animal, "Are you the one?" I'd seen almost every animal (including a fawn!) when I got to the last pen of dogs. And there she was...Luna! I knew it immediately. And when I picked her up, I said, "Hi Luna," and she licked my face.
The hubs and I, however, were on a mission to deliver a clothes dryer to Montgomery, and then had to drive up to Birmingham to get his car that had been left overnight for repairs when the left wheel axle broke on his way home. So we didn't adopt Luna. I also wanted to test my psychic hotline and see if it really was an intuition or just me being OCD.
I slept on it and woke up still thinking about Luna. Usually if someone says, "Do you want a dog?" I emphatically say, "NO!" But there was something about Luna. And even though she's a different breed from Luna in The Weredog Whisperer, she's awfully close to an all-white dog. Only her ears and two little spots above her nose and on her toes are not white. It's rare to find all white dogs that aren't Spitz or Great Pyrenees or albino.
I emailed the shelter on Sunday, even though they were closed, to inquire about Luna. She wasn't listed on their website and I thought maybe someone had adopted her in the half hour before they'd closed on Saturday.
But guess what? Another family had adopted Luna and then had BROUGHT HER BACK to the shelter because--get this--Luna chewed on their little girl's hair. [Don't even get me started on that!] And we had just happened to stop at the shelter after an impromptu visit right after she'd been returned.
Monday afternoon I couldn't stand it anymore. Luna was pulling me to her like a giant magnet! I drove down to Wetumpka to pick up my new dog. She is the best puppy I have ever have. And I don't even like puppies; you can ask my husband. Oh, I like puppies, I just don't like taking CARE of a puppy. It's like having a baby, a lot of work.
But Luna is the smartest, most affectionate, well behaved puppy I have ever had. Granted, I've only had 3 puppies in my life, but they were all challenges. So either I've gotten older and wiser or Luna is the perfect fit.
I'll go with the latter.
So life imitates art and art imitates life. Moxie inspired Luna and Luna inspired Luna. And that's how we roll at Casa Sullivan.
My own dog, Moxie, a white with brindled spots American Staffordshire Terrier (aka American Pit Bull Terrier) inspired the character of Luna both in appearance and behavior. We adopted her from the Humane Society of Elmore County back in 2007 and she's been a fantastic dog.
This past weekend, my intuition told me to stop at that same animal shelter. This is how we acquire our companion animals--they either show up at our door (literally) or I get this gut feeling, gut knowing, intuition, psychic hotline flash, sixth sense...or whatever you want to call it, and "find" the animal that is supposed to come live with us. Some people mistakenly think that I "collect" animals and want to take in any cat, dog, reptile, etc that is stray or needs to be rehomed. But no. I'm very picky and it's all about gut feeling. It has to be "the right" animal. It's one of those "I know it when I see it" things.
For several weeks now, I've had that gut feeling that another animal was coming to live with us. But I had no idea what species it would be. I knew we couldn't take on another cat. When we have more than 3 cats in the house, at least one will get upset and the pissing contests begin. I love my critters, but I also love living like a human being and not in a giant animal toilet. So we have a moratorium on cats until attrition does its thing and we're down to only two cats total.
So I'm wandering through the shelter asking each animal, "Are you the one?" I'd seen almost every animal (including a fawn!) when I got to the last pen of dogs. And there she was...Luna! I knew it immediately. And when I picked her up, I said, "Hi Luna," and she licked my face.
The hubs and I, however, were on a mission to deliver a clothes dryer to Montgomery, and then had to drive up to Birmingham to get his car that had been left overnight for repairs when the left wheel axle broke on his way home. So we didn't adopt Luna. I also wanted to test my psychic hotline and see if it really was an intuition or just me being OCD.
I slept on it and woke up still thinking about Luna. Usually if someone says, "Do you want a dog?" I emphatically say, "NO!" But there was something about Luna. And even though she's a different breed from Luna in The Weredog Whisperer, she's awfully close to an all-white dog. Only her ears and two little spots above her nose and on her toes are not white. It's rare to find all white dogs that aren't Spitz or Great Pyrenees or albino.
I emailed the shelter on Sunday, even though they were closed, to inquire about Luna. She wasn't listed on their website and I thought maybe someone had adopted her in the half hour before they'd closed on Saturday.
But guess what? Another family had adopted Luna and then had BROUGHT HER BACK to the shelter because--get this--Luna chewed on their little girl's hair. [Don't even get me started on that!] And we had just happened to stop at the shelter after an impromptu visit right after she'd been returned.
Monday afternoon I couldn't stand it anymore. Luna was pulling me to her like a giant magnet! I drove down to Wetumpka to pick up my new dog. She is the best puppy I have ever have. And I don't even like puppies; you can ask my husband. Oh, I like puppies, I just don't like taking CARE of a puppy. It's like having a baby, a lot of work.
But Luna is the smartest, most affectionate, well behaved puppy I have ever had. Granted, I've only had 3 puppies in my life, but they were all challenges. So either I've gotten older and wiser or Luna is the perfect fit.
I'll go with the latter.
So life imitates art and art imitates life. Moxie inspired Luna and Luna inspired Luna. And that's how we roll at Casa Sullivan.
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