Tag Archive | rescue dogs

More puppy pictures

Jack is settling in quite nicely!

We bought this bed for Max, who never stepped foot on it. Jack has no such qualms: he sleeps on it, runs and slides on it, and even tugs on it when I try to push it back in place. Thankfully, he appears to be housetrained. We had two accidents the day he came home, but nothing since then. He even makes it overnight without accidents. To encourage a good relationship between Jack and the 10yo (David), we’ve given David the job of feeding him, and that’s going very well. Jack is learning to sit and stay while David gets it ready for him.

Of course Jack is still a puppy, so there is some nipping and jumping going on, but it’s so obvious the intent is playful that it’s not scary. It is a bit disconcerting when he barrels down the stairs toward me, though the grin on his face makes me laugh. Sure, we’re discouraging it, but you can’t miss his exuberant joy in everything he does. When he sees us, his whole body wags. And he tries so hard to be good: he comes and leans so hard against your legs, curling around you and soaking in all the love you can give him. Then when he gets it, he gets all bouncy and jumpy. “You like me! You really like me!” He’s like a three-year-old in a way, because they live life so fully. They’re still so curious and excited about everything and they can’t always contain their joy and excitement.

He’s not so good at playing fetch yet but he does love the yard. He runs hard, his eyes rolling back a little so he gets a crazy look on his face. He snuffles around in the dirt and finds sticks to gnaw on, and it’s adorable when he starts chasing butterflies. But probably the cutest thing he does is lie down with his legs out behind him. He does it all the time, then scrabbles around when he wants to move or get up. Maybe he likes the cool wood floor against his belly? I’m not sure, but we all hope he doesn’t grow out of it anytime soon.

But of all the things I love about Jack, the thing I love the most is his friendly attitude. We took him with us to an outdoor birthday party with about twenty family members, including four young kids. I think he did fine.

We’re hoping to start a training class soon, and he’s shown signs of being a quick learner. I’m looking forward to a lot of years of joy with Captain Jack!

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

Jun30

We’ve had some bad luck with dogs the last year or so. I’ve posted about our Siberian Husky, Max, recently, and the latest update is not great: he has serious resource guarding issues and we were unable to curb his biting. It was more than playful mouthing; this was serious biting of all of us. Considering I have two children of my own, and several younger kids in our family, Max was a huge risk that I could no longer afford to take. The guarding was made worse by the fact that he considered everything food, and paper and socks were huge temptations for him. We tried very hard to help Max but we just weren’t the right family for him. He is now back in the shelter where I’m sure he will find someone who is able to work with him and love him.

After that, we all knew we wanted a dog in our family, we just weren’t sure when. We took a vacation, vowing to take some time to think about it and really look for the right dog this time. Well, I’m not good at that. I was ready to get a dog the day we came home. It wasn’t unanimous though so I pretended to be patient while I pored over the dogs at Wayside Waifs and Great Plains SPCA and the Kansas City Pet Project. There are so many awesome animals that need homes! I looked for dogs with good demeanors, ones that were recommended for homes with kids. We weren’t particular about looks or breeds, we just wanted a friendly dog that could safely be around the whole family.

Finally, this weekend, we all agreed it was time to go meet some pups. I picked out several options, and we started at the Great Plains SPCA in Merriam. One of the dogs I liked was on hold to be adopted and the other two were in a different location, so instead we met one we liked there. Roxy was a young shepherd mix with tons of energy. She wanted to PLAY! But she was super strong already, and managed to knock the boy over just playing. He clearly wasn’t comfortable around her, so we moved on. We met Cookie Monster next. He was older, around 4, and really mellow, and my son loved how calm he was. Cookie has a sweet face too. But I really wanted a dog with more energy. I wanted a playmate, one that would play ball in the yard and go on walks. Back in the car we went, this time headed to Wayside. There were three dogs on my list there, so I was cautiously optimistic.

We saw Barrel first. He was another young Shepherd mix who would probably need some obedience training but otherwise would be okay with kids. He has a great face. Kody was next, an older Husky-Lab mix. He’s five and I thought he’d be calm. Finally, we came to Biff Barker. He was on my list but at the bottom, partly because of his age (only five months) and partly because his face in the pictures just didn’t speak to me. Well, when we saw him in person, I think we were all in love. He’s just the cutest darn thing.

Oh, we all pretended. We said we’d meet all three dogs and make a decision then. Yeah right. We met Biff first and he was fabulous. My husband sat down and Biff came over and gave him a hug and a kiss and I could see my husband melt right there. He played with all of us, had a gentle mouth with the treats, responded (somewhat) to commands. He was bouncy and energetic and just perfect. We talked to the kids about how housetraining would have to be a family commitment, and we’d all have to be willing to clean up messes. After several minutes, the volunteer started to take him back and bring us the next dog. As soon as she was out of the room, I looked at Alex and said, “Why are we even bothering? We love Biff, why not get him?” Everybody grinned and agreed and we chased after the lady taking our dog away.

It was a fun ride home. Biff sat in the back with the kids, and they both kept exclaiming how cute he is. We’d saved some toys that Max didn’t use, so I pulled those out when we got home. I loved watching my son interact with Biff. He’d been so tentative and cautious around Max that I loved that he was able to relax and just enjoy the dog’s company.

We have now renamed him Captain Jack, after the character in Doctor Who, because the dog is cute and loves everyone. We’re all so happy to be a dog family again! And I’ll say it again, if you’re looking for a furry friend, check your local shelters first!

The dog ate my homework!

Apr8

Well, he hasn’t eaten any homework *yet* but give it time: this dog is obsessed with paper. He’s been on several walks with us already and each time he’s found a used napkin, tissue, paper towel, candy wrapper, cigarette butt or something similar to consume. Sometimes I catch him in time to pull him away, sometimes I can get it out of his mouth, and sometimes he even drops it. And then of course sometimes he just chomps away and has a weird snack. Yesterday I left him alone for the first time. I was gone maybe an hour, to Costco to get him some food. I come home to find this:

I laughed and cleaned it up…and decided to keep the bathroom door closed from now on! After lunch today, I grabbed a tissue from the box on the kitchen counter. You guessed it: there was a damp spot and two small holes in it. I have no idea why he decided to leave it in the box. Today, I went to vote, making sure the toilet paper wasn’t accessible. Oops, but my slipper was. It was still intact, but a bit dampish. So was the dust rag he’d found by the basement door, where it was waiting for a load of laundry. I’m glad neither of them suffered the fate of the rope toy that only survived about 8 hours:

I took away the handle once he started tearing it apart to actually eat but the ball is one of his favorite toys now so I’ll let him keep it. Really, he’s much like a baby: it’s a darn good thing he’s cute! Still, if this is the worst that he does, I’m fine with it. Clearly he just gets lonely when we’re all gone. It’s a bit charming how he follows me everywhere I go. Even if I get off the couch just to get a drink, he’ll hop up from a nap and trot with me back and forth. It’ll probably get a bit annoying after a while, but it’s not yet. Neither are the muddy floors. And to be honest, I think the kids really *want* to go to school and truthfully say “The dog ate my homework!”

“It’s exhausting being this cute!”

Meet Max, our new furry friend

Apr7

This is our new baby, Max. He’s a Siberian Husky, around 11 months old, and we adopted him from a local animal shelter, Wayside Waifs.

Alex and I met him Saturday without telling the kids. Max has juvenile cataracts, which means his vision is impaired, and he wasn’t recommended for a home with small children. We were concerned about taking on a dog with a vision problem, so we wanted to check him out on our own. While we visited with him, we could see that he has adapted quite well to his vision, and he had no problem seeing us, the treats in our hand, or the ball we threw for him.

The vet at the shelter said he didn’t think Max would ever need cataract surgery, though it was something we could opt for if we thought it necessary, which supported the research I had done. Huskies are prone to eye problems, especially cataracts, but juvenile cataracts are different in that they often don’t progress over time and the dog can live quite happily as he is. That eliminated my concern about his health, and I was excited for him to meet the kids.

We made sure to talk to the kids beforehand about his vision, stressing that they would have to make sure not to startle him or come up to him from behind. We were told he had food aggression, so we talked about that too, and how we’d have to keep him separate during meals and have an adult feed him. We talked about his “mouthiness”, which is just him wanting to latch onto things with his jaw and play. As a result, our son, who is smaller and only 10, was a little tentative and hesitant, but couldn’t help but be charmed by Max. Our daughter was in love at first sight. The meeting was smooth sailing, and before long we were all smooshed in the car heading home. I sat in the backseat with my son and Max, and Max had no qualms about sitting, leaning, and laying on me. We also learned that he gives doggie kisses.

It took very little time for Max to adjust. His vision seems to be keeping him from going upstairs inside, but the stairs leading to the yard are no problem at all. A quick trip to the store meant he had new toys, and his favorites are the tennis balls. He’s perfectly content to throw it around and chase it all by himself, though the kids like it when he lets them play too. He’s got a nice backyard with plenty of room, and seemed thrilled when he caught the scent of a mole in the dirt!

Dinnertime was a sweet surprise: we put his food out while we had dinner, and he displayed no aggression whatsoever. He nibbled at his food, then came and watched us intently, but didn’t try to steal any bites and remained calm and civil. He’s more of a beggar than some people might like, but I can work with it, especially since it’s so much better than I expected.

We took him for a walk after dinner, hoping to make sure he was worn out for his first night in a new home, and again he behaved better than expected. He didn’t pull excessively and he didn’t bolt after the squirrels or bark at the other dogs. It’s really amazing how quickly he’s adjusted to being with us, and vice versa. He seems so happy to have a yard, and kids to play with, and people to love. I think he was just waiting for a family who understood him, and I’m so glad we’re that family.