Give me your opinion. . . .

As I've written before, MM and I have been considering the idea of getting a second dog for some time. I blogged about our plans to adopt Darius (which later fell through). We also made contact with a local Schnauzer rescue group before MM decided he didn't want to get a Schnauzer anymore. (Despite his staunchly maintaining the status of his childhood Schnauzer, "Samuel von Woofer" aka "Sammy Schnauzer" as "the best dog ever," MM has grown to love large dogs more since living with Sebastian.)

I have long wanted a second dog. . . . a second Golden, to be more precise. I've loved the breed for years, and after having my very own Golden for nearly seven years, I only love Goldens more now. So there has been no back and forth or true consideration on my part; MM is the one who hasn't been sure.

MM has at last come around to my way of thinking (LOL), and we have submitted an adoption application with Rescue a Golden of Arizona, the same organization through which I adopted Sebastian back in 2002. Tomorrow night I have a home visit from a member of the Golden Evaluation Team ("GET") to see if our home is a suitable environment for a Golden.

Once our home visit occurs and our home is approved (to me, a foregone conclusion, given that I know what they are looking for: mainly, no open pool that is accessible where the dog could drown, a fenced yard from which the Golden could not escape, and a doggy door), the next step will be for us to choose the dog we would like to adopt. (In regard to our home, I might also add that Sebastian has been living here safely and happily for seven months.) Once we choose the dog, we--MM, Sebastian, and I--will meet him in a neutral location. If all goes well with the meeting, after a 24-hour waiting period, we could adopt the dog.

MM and I have looked at the "Available Dogs" section of the RAG of AZ website and have narrowed our selection down to three dogs: Gavin (09-046), Buddy (09-050), or Greeley (09-071). All of the Goldens look absolutely adorable, and I would be up for adopting any of them. MM helped me narrow down our choices, though, by expressing a preference for a dog aged 1 to 3 years (not a puppy, but still young), a male (so we'll have "two boys"), and a dog who is housebroken.

I am having a really hard time choosing among the three dogs! Aside from the information available on the website (http://www.golden-retriever.org/available_dogs/list/), I only know a little something extra about Gavin. When I set up the home visit, I asked about him specifically because MMhad remarked on how cute his photo was. Apparently Gavin had a "meet and greet" with a family this weekend who decided that he was not for them because he is "too active." (Not sure what they were expecting from a year-old Golden, but anyway. . . . )

I plan to ask the GET member for more information about Buddy and Greeley tomorrow night. It might help to learn a little more about each dog and his history than is posted on the website. MM has said that he would like to meet all three dogs so that he could compare them to one another, but I'm not sure that RAG of AZ would permit this, and even if they would allow us to meet all three dogs before committing to one, they'd likely think we were a bit flaky. And logistically, it would be much more complicated to set up meetings with three different dogs in three different foster homes all over the Phoenix metro area. Another issue: one or more of the dogs might be adopted by someone else while we are debating among them.

Without having any more information than I've provided, though. . . . which Golden would you choose? Please leave me a comment and let me know. All opinions welcome!!