Scott and I adopted a rescue dog, a Chihuahua/Min. Pin. mix, back in 2008. Before we were married, before we had kids, before we realized how difficult it was going to be for this dog to have to share the spotlight with a tiny human being. Things were great and Cooper was Scott's buddy until Bailey was born, at which point he started peeing all over the house, chewing up her toys, and using her bedroom as his own personal toilet. When he nipped at her {she was a little over a year old} we decided that maybe it was time for Cooper to go.
Fast forward to a few months ago when we adopted Ryder. Bailey had chosen her all by herself, named her, came home and fed her, and just sat with her. For days. And Ryder never responded to her, or to Scott and me. Any time Scott came near her, Ryder peed. She only left her crate when we forced her out {a long production involving sneaking a leash on and basically dragging her out} and she never left the kitchen. Ever. She wouldn't eat or drink if we were in the same room with her and we had to prop the back door open and walk out of the room in order to get her to go outside. Everything I read and all of the papers her fosters had given us said to follow the 3x3x3 rule...that Ryder would act less fearful by day 3; that she would start come out of her shell and want to spend more time with us by week 3; that she'd be her normal, happy self by month 3. Her third month with us came and went with zero progress. Ryder was still terrified of Scott, had to be forced out of her crate, and wouldn't eat or go out if we were within her line of vision. She hadn't bonded with any of us {not for lack of trying - Bailey was desperate for her to get up and want to play} and she was most certainly not the happy-go-lucky puppy that she was supposed to be.
Scott's dad is retired and had recently lost his golden retriever to an unknown bloating issue. He'd spent the previous 8 years giving Lucy all of his attention, taking her for walks, playing his guitar and blowing bubbles for her. He loved her, and it was abundantly clear that they needed each other. Once it became really evident that Ryder wasn't coming out of her shell at all with us, Scott and I started to talk about maybe seeing if his dad wanted to take her. He needed the companionship and Ryder, it seemed, needed a more one-on-one environment with less noise and more relaxation...not a daycare setting with a bunch of kids in and out all day. And so, Scott's parents agreed to take Ryder and guess what? She's flourishing. Thriving. Happy. She's getting the one-on-one attention she needs, and my father-in-law has an animal companion again. And I'm so relieved and so happy that it's been working out.
One thing I wasn't happy about was Bailey's reaction. She misses Ryder, and she kept asking when she was coming home. Scott and I explained {many times} that Ryder wasn't coming home and that she was living with Pop Pop now, but Bailey didn't fully understand and wasn't happy. We'd been toying with the idea of getting another dog {Scott and I both grew up with pets and feel strongly that kids should have one} but I think we were both a little scared and VERY leery about introducing a new pet into the mix. We didn't want a repeat of crazy, aggressive Cooper or terrified-to-the-point-of-losing-all-bladder-control Ryder.
And then we met Louie.
He's a 5-year-old Beagle/Pug mix {he's got more Pug in him than Beagle, I think} and I fell in love a little bit when I saw his picture online. His owner had to move to Texas suddenly to take care of her sick mother and couldn't take him with her. It was either hope someone wanted him or take him to the pound.
We wanted him.
He's been with us for just a few hours now and he's awesome. He responds to his name {something Ryder never did, and Cooper only did selectively}, he listens and responds to commands, walks well on a leash, and has just the right amount of energy to keep up with my kids while also being mellow enough to keep Scott and me happy and calm. He buddied up to Scott immediately and spent the 15 minutes after Scott left to go get him food crying at the front door.
Louie spent his first 40 minutes here running around and sniffing everything and everyone. He barks when someone comes to the door and we'll have to teach him not to jump on the furniture but, other than that, he's such a cool little guy. After running around spastically for awhile, he just laid down and chilled out.
Now that he's sort of used to us, he's perfectly content to snuggle up in our laps and hang out. But he's also totally cool with Gerry attacking him and happy to play along. And Bailey spent the better part of her afternoon introducing Louie to everyone and giving him a run-down of how things work around here. I hope I'm not jinxing myself here {I don't think I am} but I think Louie is going to do just fine here with us.
So far so good!
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