Brett adopts Rudy

Brett Bohlinger’s adoption of Rudy begins with a refusal: she turns down a valuable purebred greyhound and chooses an adult mixed-breed dog from the Chicago Animal Rescue Shelter instead. The contrast makes the decision more than a search for a pet. Brett rejects the polish and demands associated with a show dog, accepts the uncertainties of Rudy’s unknown background, and leaves with a companion whose welcome is immediate and physical.

The show dog Brett refuses

On a Friday afternoon, Megan calls Brett after hearing from Shelley that Brett plans to get a dog. Megan has a client who must give up Champ because his Lake Shore Drive building does not allow pets. Champ is a purebred greyhound, described as a show dog, and the client is willing to give him to Brett. Megan presents the offer as an extraordinary opportunity: the dog is valuable, pedigreed, and available without the usual search.

Brett declines. As she leaves her office, she explains that she does not want the work she associates with show dogs: grooming, training, competing, and maintaining their special diets and products. Her complaint grows into a broader objection to an animal whose needs seem to dominate the household while showing little regard for its owner’s needs. The force of the rant exceeds the practical question of breed. It gives the refusal an emotional edge, particularly after Brett has been avoiding Megan’s calls since seeing her at Andrew’s loft. The passage does not explicitly equate Champ with a person, but its language about exhaustion, resentment, and unequal attention makes the rejection resonate beyond dog ownership.

Choosing at the shelter

Brett’s search brings her and Brad Midar to the Chicago Animal Rescue Shelter. The welcome is not polished: the air smells of wood shavings and animal dander, and barking fills the background. A volunteer named Gillian explains the difference between registered dogs, with pedigrees and papers, and mixed-breed dogs. Registered dogs tend to be adopted quickly; she also notes the recent demand for Portuguese water dogs after the Obamas chose Bo.

Gillian cautions that a mixed-breed dog’s family history is unknown, leaving less certainty about temperament and inherited disease. Brett acknowledges the risk and proceeds anyway. In less than ten minutes, she spots a fluffy dog behind a metal cage. His coffee-colored eyes appear both friendly and pleading. Brett introduces him to Brad as her new dog, and Gillian opens the cage. The speed of the choice sharply contrasts with the elaborate credentials attached to Champ: Rudy’s appeal is not a pedigree or a promise of predictable qualities, but the encounter itself.

Rudy joins Brett and Brad

Once free, Rudy scampers across the cement floor, his tail flickering as he sniffs Brett and Brad and looks from one to the other. Brett lifts him; he squirms in her arms, licks her cheeks, and makes her laugh with joy. Brad scratches Rudy’s ears and observes that the dog likes Brett. Gillian estimates that Rudy is a year and a half old and fully grown, probably a mix of bichon frise and cocker spaniel with some poodle. Brett’s affection is already settled before his precise ancestry is known.

The adoption also begins as a shared outing with Brad. He accompanies Brett to the shelter, meets Rudy there, and helps welcome him. On the drive north along State Street, Rudy rides secured in a crate in the backseat, peering at the traffic, crowds, and Christmas lights. Brett reaches back toward the crate to check on him and reassures him that she is there; Brad turns around as well and tells Rudy they will soon be home. The scene carries the choice beyond the shelter: Rudy is no longer simply the dog Brett selected but a vulnerable passenger being brought into a home.

A choice grounded in care

Rudy’s adoption reverses the terms of Megan’s offer. Champ’s pedigree and show-dog status are presented as advantages, yet Brett hears in them a prospect of costly attention and resentment. Rudy, by contrast, arrives with uncertainty about his family history and health, but also with an evident capacity for affection. Brett does not mistake that first meeting for knowledge of his future temperament; Gillian has just made clear what remains unknown. She accepts the uncertainty rather than treating pedigree as a guarantee.

The small gestures after the choice—the hand reaching toward Rudy’s crate, the repeated reassurance from Brett and Brad, and the promise that home is near—show the practical consequence of the decision. Brett’s welcome is expressed not through a declaration about what Rudy will become, but through attention to his immediate comfort. The event thus joins independence of choice to responsibility: she refuses the dog she believes would impose the wrong demands and takes home the animal whose care she is ready to begin.