Driving Miss Ruby - Her story on her 8th Birthday

Ruby's Story

The phone call
Ruby came into our lives when Pam and I decided that it was time to think about adding a dog to our family of three cats. We agreed on a Doberman because we had each raised a Dobe many years ago.

After calling several breeders, I decided to call Doberman Rescue. I talked with Dorothy, the Rescue Lady, for over an hour, telling her why we wanted a Doberman, how we would treat it, the kind of home it would have, etc, and only after this, did she even hint that there might be a female Doberman needing a home that matched very closely with what we wanted.

According to Rescue, Ruby was only 10 months old and still living with the family that was trying to find her a new home. They were getting a divorce and needed to place both of their dogs. I wasted no time, and I called them immediately!

Excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I spoke to Ruby's mom. She said she was sorry, but that they had already “given her away” to a friend. She asked for my phone number, however, in case Ruby did not work out at her new home.

Something about the tone of her voice gave me hope that Ruby would still be ours. I had already connected with her in some way, and I remember saying, “Just wait; I think she'll be available again.”



The meeting
About a week later, I received a phone call from Ruby's mom, and she said that Ruby did not work out at her new home. She had refused to eat and would not come out of her crate. She asked if we would like to come see her. We were on our way to meet Ruby the next day.

We agreed to meet in a supermarket parking lot, so we could all get to know each other and meet Ruby on neutral ground. We waited for only about 5 minutes for Ruby to arrive, and as the Honda Accord pulled into the parking space next to our truck, I had my first good Dober-chuckle in 15 years. I still refer to the scene as “Driving Miss Ruby”. There she was in the back seat of the car, sitting up perfectly straight and proud, looking out the window, like she owned the car (and the people in it!) and was just out for a Sunday drive.

After about 30 minutes of hearing Ruby's story, we agreed to go back to her house and talk about actually taking her home with us. I remember having second thoughts though: She was so big! In addition, she did not seem exactly overjoyed to see us. What are we getting into? This is a big responsibility! Aren't we more “cat people than dog people?" Pam however, was in love with her already, and without her push to take Ruby on the spot, I might have backed out!

After picking up her belongings and a tearful goodbye, we were now driving Miss Ruby to her new home.

I wrote this when everything was fresh in my mind in late 2003/2004. It has been online at the Doberman Pincher Discussion Forum ever since.
Happy Birthday sweet girl.