Orangey!
Posted: January 14th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | 27 Comments »I guess you probably heard that there’s a new dog in the Hehu household. After Harriet died this summer I figured I’d get another dog someday, but maybe after we had thinned the herd a little – 6 pets is a lot, after all. (It’s not like we don’t know that.) But, yes, I was trolling the pet adoption sites and the Great Dane rescue sites, because… you know, just in case.
So that was how we ended up at Berkeley Animal Services, because I’d seen a dog on there who seemed like a good candidate. But then when we asked to meet her the staff told us that there was no one there who felt safe taking her out of her kennel. They didn’t do a really super job of selling her. (We later talked to another staff member who sort of rolled her eyes at that and said that dog was nice, but was going kennel crazy after having been there for 4 months – she was rescued by Bad Rap a few days before she would have been euthanized.) Anyway, in the kennel next to her was a little orange and white pit/beagle mix who looked SO WORRIED, and when we got turned down on meeting the first dog, The Knitter immediately asked if we could meet her neighbor. And that was pretty much it. We brought Clara and Miss Idaho to meet her the next day, they got along fine (although Clara would have liked some more playing, thank you) and we filled out the adoption form! And the other adoption form! And there might have been a third adoption form! Who knows?!? There were so many! And then someone had to come to our house to make sure our floors weren’t covered with babies and broken glass! And then there was a holiday weekend! So we FINALLY got to bring her home last Thursday, straight from the vet after being spayed. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t her favorite day ever. (You can see how freaked out she was in if you’re really into it. But be warned, it’s totally unedited, so if you get bored it’s not my fault.)
So it was pretty tough to get her to eat at first, even trying to hand fee… what? There’s a question you wish to have answered? Oh, yes, the name. I don’t know if you know this, but I am genius at naming pets. For example, Miss Idaho. Best name ever. Also, Waylon. Good name, but when put alongside Willie? Pure Genius. So I had to come up with a perfect name. The front runner for a long time was Eleven, because Eleven is an awesome number, and she was in kennel 11. I was also thinking about naming her Butter, because everyone loves butter, plus I used to practice at a place that had graffiti that just said “Butter butter butter butter butter” . (There was also graffiti that said “nobody doesn’t like head” but Head would be a bad name for a dog, plus that’s not entirely true, and wow am I getting off topic here.) I briefly considered Edith, but I have a rule against giving pets names of people I know, and I follow Edith Frost on Twitter and would like to know her, so I couldn’t name my dog Edith. And The Knitter was BADGERING me about the name, and suggesting anything she could think of. In fact, maybe I should have named her Badger, except that also have a rule against naming pets things that you know are going to be trouble – example: Never name your dog Loki! Just don’t, okay? Spare the rest of us. So there I was, just waiting for the perfect name to land on my head, and trying out names on her to see if they stuck, and then one of the throwaway names stuck.
Her name is Clementine! (Or, as my French friend pronounced it last night, Clawmonteen. Sounds a little hifalutin to me.) In retrospect it’s so obvious! It’s kind of country, and plus – SHE’S ORANGE! (One of the neighborhood kids suggested naming her Orangey, which I kind of liked, but I knew it wasn’t the right name.)
And she’s just the sweetest little thing ever. She looks like a beagle wearing a pit bull costume. I think her previous owners gave her lots of affection but didn’t know anything about dogs – she wasn’t spayed, she knows no commands and she doesn’t even know how to play with other dogs! But she lives with Clara, so she’ll learn. All she wants to do is hang out with the people and get petted. (She also seems to know that when she stands on her back legs and begs it’s super cute – she hasn’t learned that doesn’t work here like it did at the old place.) I took her to (an awesome pet food store in the Lower Haight that our friend Megan owns, you should totally shop there if you’re in the neighborhood) and Megan wanted to get a cute picture and one thing led to another and next thing you know your dog is in a wig. You know how it is. But you know what? She didn’t mind at all. And I’m not just saying that, and I’m not saying that she tolerated it well – I’m saying she didn’t care at all that she was wearing a wig. And who would, when they look so fetching? (Heh, get it? Fetching?) Also, when we got there Megan was helping a customer get a new tag for his dog, who’s name was Mandarin. But Clementine is more orange.
In summary, new dog cute, cuddly, very nice and sweet. A bit more interested in the cats than we would like, but that will be workable. Good walker. Excellent tv watching company. Very floppy when sleepy.
AAA++++++ WOULD ADOPT AGAIN!!!
So much for the self restraint, hm? What a cutie-pup. Congrats to you and Teh Knitter!
Yay I can comment!!!
Clementine is a freaking perfect name, and she looks like a total doll. Hooray for new dogs!!
Clementine is PERFECT! You are indeed a kick-ass name giver. I will hire you if I have any more children.
Beautiful puppy added to the perfect family.
Congratulations! Excellent name, indeed. Love your A++++ feedback. She’s adorable. Lucky you, lucky Knitter, lucky critters all.
totally thought of stealing “orangey” for bridget. except she’s already bridget. plus not very orange.
YAY for Clementine….
and of course I’m totally with you on the whole elevenses thing.
11 is the AWESOMEST number
(breaking into silly Muppet songs, now)
but yeah, Volde….just wasn’t cutting it for me…
All the best to you and Clementine and the Knitter and all the other pets…
Yves Montand sings a song about Clementine (very cheesy, but Clementine ends up saving the guy in the song from drowning because he jumps in to save her–she doesn’t really need saving– and kind of forgets he doesn’t know how to swim…). I think it was written in the late forties. And she’s got long blonde hair, too!
Clementine, don’t eat the cats. You’ll never get the fluff out of your teeth, ever.
Perfect!
You should also never ever name a pet Lucky. Never. Ever.
Trolling the dog-rescue sites — always a dangerous practice. I’m so chuffed, though, that Clementine [Clemmy? Tiny?] gets a happy home. Are you sure you don’t want Jody too?
I am verklempt! Clementine is so beautiful!
I am so happy that she is with you. I think she is going to have an awesome life moving forward!
I have a kissyface red pittie named Olive. I think red pit bulls might be the sweetest dogs ever. That’s been my experience, anyway.
Now i’d like to find Olive a wig. Maybe a Diana Ross Wig is in order.
She’s beautiful (the wig really brings out the nose freckles), and the name is perfect!
And, in a happy coincidence, I’m just about to have a clementine for lunchdessert. It will now be in honor of your pupper
YAY! I love the name-it suits her well. Congrats on saving a life and enhancing your life. Good take on the naming-should have thought of that before I named my second son Aidan(look it up-means fire). Oy.
Yay for adopting a dog! I can tell she’s a dangerous pitty mix by the way she looks in a blonde wig.
Clementine was what I wanted to name Kona, only when we met her and her foster person, I couldn’t change her name because FP had really tried hard to think up good names for the four sister pups. So I am glad to have a Clementine dog in my extended pet family
Clara & Clementine, Waylon & Willie — very stylin’ names at your house! Good choice, and I love that her name has underlying meanings. Lucky Clementine!
Of course!
I’ve been impatiently waiting to find out The Name. Good, of course, even with such high expectations.
(I just know she’s going to bite your nose off there. Hope you didn’t need too many stitches.)
Clementine needs to meet Oscar. He is the beagle mix I found wandering around a truck stop this Christmas when I was driving from Oregon to Arizona.
He looks more like a corgi/beagle cross but the same sweet face and very floppy when he wants tummy scratches. Very floppy all over me. I wish we lived closer so they could have a play date.
Congrats on the name! (Now you can yell, “Oh my darlin’! and see if she comes.) Dear Daughter says she looks like Hannah Montana in the wig!
Gosh. That last picture of the two of you makes me all mushy.
I love her name and her wig!! Congrats.
love the name Clementine. My favorite racehorse last year was called Pamplemousse – how great is that? I had no idea what it meant when I first saw the word in a soap shop in Quebec. It’s grapefruit – love it.
I didn’t realize Clementine was so little – she’s darling.
Oh it’s Perfect! And I love it in French too! In fact I have an amstaff mix at home, and he has that exact same look in his (slightly darker) eyes, as Clementine has in the wig photo. Our little guy is called Rolff. He can almost say his name by himself when he sneezes.
Gorgeous name, gorgeous dog. Clementine you are one lucky dog indeed
congrats on your new addition. Looking forward to seeing many posts about her.
Coincidentally, actress Rachel Griffiths’ youngest child is called Clementine, and for her recent christening they had an orange theme. It was featured in “New Idea” magazine this last week (in Australia).
[...] seems like everyone’s getting a new pet these days! (Technically I think Norma’s only long-term-dogsitting Mr. Jeffries, [...]
Of course, as a rescue, she really nearly was “lost and gone forever.”
my golden-girl, sadie has an aunt clementine. she’s a three-legged dog and does quite well for herself, thank you.
perfect name. enjoy your new love.