We have a new dog in the family, a four-month-old puppy. The picture at the top of the page shows our puppy when he was at the rescue kennel, before the adoption was final. My daughter and granddaughter fell in love with him, but the kennel was very cautious.
The shelter called me, before the dog came home. They were checking references! They wanted to make sure the home was suitable for this sweet puppy.
It had been a hard year for us. Several of our pets had aged out, one of them at 16. That last loss was just a month ago. We all had a large hole in our hearts, a place for another puppy to fill and find a happy home.
Here's another picture of the puppy while he was at the shelter. Hard to resist, isn't he?
Our family was required to pass the shelter's screening, and so did the puppy have to pass muster. We have a cat, a very mature cat. The dog had to be 'cat tested' before he could live with us.
Our puppy passed with flying colors. I can't say the same for the cat. As soon as he had a chance, this haughty feline swatted the dog. The dog responded more with surprise than anything else.
Our haughty cat :)
We kept dog and cat apart for a few days and things settled down. The cat's aggression (resentment?) has diminished but not disappeared. The dog wants to make friends. He wants to play. And he does get to play...just not with the cat.
Here he is in the yard with a toy my daughter brought him.
One of the questions the shelter asked addressed space for the dog to exercise. We were asked if we had a backyard. The shelter also wanted to know, if we went out and left the dog home, would it be in the yard or in the house? Obviously, not in the yard.
The puppy has a lot of energy, and is curious, very curious. You can see that in his face, I think.
Our puppy loves to play, but he is a toddler. He has no judgement and must be watched all the time. He will eat anything. He needs constant supervision. The yard is a minefield. Rocks. Twigs. Plants. A moment of lapsed vigilance and the dog will eat something that could be his end.
Here he is trying to eat a very large rock.
Obviously, eating a rock is dangerous, but twigs--his favorite snack--are also a great hazard. Not only can he choke on the stick, but it can also tear his gut or cause intestinal blockage. Plus, many sticks are from trees that are toxic to dogs.
We cannot supervise the dog when we are sleeping. We can't protect him from the cat, nor can we protect him from his own puppy instincts. At night he sleeps in a crate. This not only keeps him safe, but helps us to advance his house training. The crate is right next to my daughter's bed.
Here is the puppy on his first night at home. He settled in nicely and spent the night quietly and peacefully in his crate. We got the largest one we could find ($$$!) so he would be comfortable.
The shelter recommended introducing the dog to all kinds of stimuli. This would possibly prevent the development of fear to strange sights, noises and scents. We take the puppy on a walk around the neighborhood almost every night, and my daughter has taken him to the local beach.
Here he is on the beach.
There was a fireworks display on the beach the other day. It was the Fourth of July, Independence Day in the U. S. We settled on chairs in a grassy area and watched the show. All around us fireworks boomed. The dog didn't flinch. He seemed to be more interested in the people who flocked to the area than he was to the noisy fireworks.
He likes the water. This beach is on a bay, and there are few waves. It's very still. You can see in this shot how placid the water is.
Here is another shot of the puppy happily wading through the water.
Yesterday my daughter took him to another beach. This one is on the Long Island Sound, which extends out to the Atlantic Ocean. The waves on the sound are fairly large. The puppy did not like that and resisted going in the less placid water.
He can be skittish. I don't know how much of that is due to being a puppy and how much is intrinsic temperament. It doesn't seem that he suffered trauma so far in his life, at least not the trauma of violent abuse. His records from the shelter indicate that he was transferred from a shelter in Texas. Despite this checkered history, he is a happy dog and friendly, after an initial cautious approach.
The puppy on the grass in our backyard.
We have ordered a variety of chew toys for him to safely exercise that chew impulse. Some of the toys are classic run and fetch types. Some have hollowed out insides where peanut butter or some other tasty substance and can be inserted.
Here he is in the house with a chew toy. I was watching him (someone is always watching him) and had him restricted to an area to keep him from foraging for something that might hurt him.
Adopting a dog is not something we do lightly. When I was a child and lived in a rural area, dogs used to come and live with us. They stayed mostly outside and were largely on their own. Many of them had short lives. They were hit by cars, poisoned, killed by other animals or even disappeared. The dogs were much loved but not much supervised.
As an adult I have adopted many dogs over my life. Some of these were puppies. Some were not. Each was an individual, with an individual challenge. In every case, though, the dogs were supervised and great care was taken for their welfare.
Here is a picture of our puppy a day after we adopted him.
What kind of dog will he grow to be? We've had a deaf dog and a lame cat. Stubborn dogs, calm dogs and feisty dogs. There is no way to know once we adopt how a dog will grow. There is only one certainty. We'll stick with the pet, no matter what the future brings.
I'll keep the community updated on the evolving adventure with our new household member. Can we see a suggestion of the dog he will be in this picture?
Thank you for reading my blog. To everyone, both human and otherwise, I wish you peace and health. Hive on!
** All images in this blog are mine **
