Shop Smart Shop Pets Mart!

Saturday, October 7th 08:15:23

The next morning, Caleb wakes up, uses the bathroom then heads down to the kitchen, everywhere followed by a tail-wagging shadow. Once in the kitchen, Caleb puts on the coffee machine and roots around for something he knows he and Hope would both eat and settled on bacon and eggs.

After ten minutes or so of cooking, he puts a decent portion in the bowl and the rest on his own plate. Grabbing a mug of coffee, he then sits down to dig in. A moment later he's interrupted by two paws and a nose trying to get into his lap. Looking over at the bowl Caleb noticed its been licked clean. “Damn, hold up, this is my food, Hope. I’ll get dressed, and then we’ll go to the store, okay? Sit.”

Hope lowers back out of his lap, but is positioned as if to jump at the merest hint of movement. Eating his eggs and bacon as fast as he can without ****, Caleb deposits the mug and plate into the dishwasher and heads back upstairs to finish getting dressed.

Changed out of his lounging clothes, Caleb grabs his wallet, keys, and picks up Hope, carrying them outside. Locking the door, he clutches Hope tightly as the sights and sounds of the outside turns them into a squirmy ball.

“Hope, chill please, once I get you a leash we can go exploring.”

Opening the door, Caleb sets Hope on the passenger seat, and starts up the car, heading towards the Pet Store over by the AldeezMart. Hope clambers up the side of the door, poking their head up to watch the people and cars traveling along the road with silent interest. ‘Not that I'm complaining, but that is one weird dog.’

Pulling into the parking lot, Caleb unbuckles himself and grabs Hope off the seat. Walking towards the store, he nabs a cart from the corral and sets Hope in the deep front basket where they take up their sentinel position again, tongue panting and tail wagging in excitement.

“First things first, we gotta get you a collar and name tag.” Heading down the aisle, Caleb grabs a slightly oversized black collar then heads over to the Quik-Tag machine, punches in Hope, his full name and phone number and waits the three minutes for the engraver to finish. As he stands there, several people exclaim loudly about how cute Hope is and if they can pet them, Caleb replies. “Sure, as long as they stay in the cart, ain't got them a leash yet and they’re a bit of an explorer.”

Hope, on the other hand is enjoying the adulation and attention by all these new people, bouncing, licking and yipping in excitement. A young, thin raven-haired woman comments from behind a register “That's one remarkably well-behaved puppy you got there, my lab Baxter would have jumped out and run through the store already.”

“Hope is kinda remarkable all around, still trying to figure out where they came from though, but regardless, whether I keep them or not, needed supplies, right?”

The woman, Jamie by the name tag pinned to her polo, gives a look of consternation. “You don't know where they came from? How long have you had Hope?”

“I lost hope a long time ago…Oh you mean the dog. Since yesterday, showed up on my back patio yesterday during the storm. No tags or collar or anything identifying. Nobody in the neighborhood has a Chocolate Lab either.” The machine chimes and spits out the tag, Caleb grabs and affixes the tag to the collar and attaches the collar to Hope.

“So you should probably head over to our Vet in the back for shots and they can run a check for any Chip they might have. I'll call over for you and see if she has an opening.” The woman grabs the post phone and calls over while Caleb waits patiently. After a few minutes of chatting, Jamie replaces the phone and says, “Good news, Emily has an open slot in 10 minutes for you and Hope. Good luck!”

“Thanks, Jamie! I *hope* I get to keep them. Hah!” Caleb rolls the cart towards the back while chuckling at his own terrible joke. On the way, he grabs a retractable leash, some potty pads, an oversized dog bed, and a few chew toys. Caleb held off on the food until he could get a recommendation from the Vet.

Arriving at the back of the store, he sees a small office and set of rooms and a window lined with cages of animals available for adoption. Signing his name on the clipboard, he stands around for several minutes playing with Hope in the cart until an elderly lady walks out of the door with an equally elderly fat ginger tomcat.”Thank you, Emily, such a dear for treating my Rufus, don't know what I’d do without my Roofy-Poof.” At those words, the elderly woman snuggles the cat which gives out the most defeated ‘meow’ Caleb had ever heard.

“Have a good day Mrs. Bingham, and remember to give him a tablet in a treat twice a day!” A voice yells out which is quickly joined to a blonde woman about Caleb's age, wearing a short lab coat, blouse and scrub pants, who is, in a word, *stacked*. She grabs the clipboard and then looks over at Caleb. “You must be Caleb and this must be Hope, what a cutie! C’mon back sir, Jamie explained the situation over the phone.”

Caleb grabs Hope out of the cart and follows Emily into the back office, eyes following the callipygian spectacle on display. Setting Hope on the exam table, Caleb latches Hope’s collar to the leash pole in the center of the table and then sits down in one of the owner chairs to the side.

Emily bustles around the room and hands Caleb a set of forms to fill out while she examines Hope. She starts speaking as if to an unseen observer.

“The patient is a roughly 13 week old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, eyes good, coat good, teeth good, tongue..g-good. Pleasant and…enthusiastic disposition.” Emily places Hope on the inset scale and waits for a moment. “22lbs 4oz which is slightly above weight for the breed at this age but appearance is slightly underweight, possible age may be higher. No chip implantation scar or bare fur at usual sites.”

Emily uses a chip reader and waves it all over Hope without success then lifts up Hope’s hindquarters for inspection. “Patient is a _____ “