It should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to this blog that we had to say goodbye to Garrett in January, at the ripe old age of 13. Since then, the house just hasn’t felt right. Sure, it is nice to not have to worry about feeding, and keeping the yard locked and safe, and to be certain to not stay out too late. But all that convenience pales in the absence of a buddy.
To partly fill the void, we have been sitting two wonderful Greyhound girls, Falcon and Clara who have brought joy, a bit of chaos, and the love of a greyhound back into the house. But still, something was missing. No permanent addition to our family.
We knew that this time, we would adopt a need hound, but not a greyhound. Many reasons, but the main one was that after losing Oliver to cancer, and Tate to idiopathic seizures that were escalating, and Garrett made it to a ripe old age, even though his lines were filled with cancer, add to that the high cost of care (expensive when they need surgery, and a lot of weird health issues) we were going to head to the local humane society to hunt for our next pooch.
Then I remembered that a fellow PHS alumni volunteered at a local rescue organization, Copper’s Dream, so I started browsing their website. Last weekend, they had a meet and greet not too far from our house, and we dropped in. They are an all-breed rescue, and I was immediately impressed with the organization and the volunteers/fosters who were there to show the hounds. We saw pitties, a great dane puppy, a Pyrenees mix, several chihuahua/hound mixes, and some herding dogs. One, Montana, a young herding breed was a favorite.
But, being a sucker for brindles, we saw on their available dogs, a female named “Odessa”. Unfortunately, she was adopted before we could meet her. However, the dog on the site next to her, “Lizzie”. Smallish hound mix, about 35#’s, and the pictures of her melted our hearts.
It turns out that her current foster situation was changing. The foster was moving, and into a place where they couldn’t keep her. So, a quick discussion with my friend from high school, and we were to meet her on Monday 4/16/18.
Off to the races, she was, uh, timid. Ok, timid barely scratched the surface. She wasn’t a fear biter, but she is shy around new people. Apparently, she warms up quickly, but she was tough to see.
Not being one to avoid a challenge, I could see a gentle soul who needed a chance. We left with her in the footwell of the Rav4, her crate in the back, and a trip home. She supposedly was house trained, and would come around, and be “velcro”.
The second day was discouraging. She remained in her crate, refusing to come out to do her business, and eating and drinking while in the crate. A couple of oops-es (diarrhea and piddles) on the carpet, and I knew we were in for an ordeal.
(nb: the carpet was old, and well worn when we bought the house in 2015, so we know we will be replacing it in the future.)
I decided to work from home on Wednesday, and through the week to help out. Especially, since Barbara was going to a weekend hen gathering Wednesday evening, I knew I needed to be around for the lil’ girl.
Thursday was rough. I had a touch of food poisoning, so I was down, and spent the day watching Lizzie. I should add that at this time, to get her into the back yard, I had to gently extract her from the crate, and carry her out back. Far from ideal, but a necessity.
Friday morning, the dynamic changed, drastically. About 6:30 AM, I was at my desk, reading my NY Times, and I hear Lizzie gingerly walk out of her crate and our bedroom, and peer around the corner in my bedroom. Then she walked down the hall, and began rummaging through the toy bucket. My excitement was hard to contain. Next thing I knew, I saw her carrying a toy back down the hallway.
To cut a long story short, she began playing, began playing with me, being a very outgoing, and loving little girl. Jumping, bebopping, kisses. She couldn’t get enough of me. I even tried a new trick. I put her food in the kitchen, and surprise surprise surprise, she ate in the kitchen.
I had a couple of early conference calls, and for about 2/3rd’s of them, she was snuggled on to my feet under my desk.
Of course, she did piddle in the hallway again, and dropped a stool in the kitchen. That poor carpet…
Saturday morning, it was a repeat performance, but with more playing, some zoomies in the back yard, playing with me on the ground like a puppy in the hallway, asking for treats (and sitting on command!!!!!).
She was also trying the doggie door.
Sunday, she went out by herself, and did her stools on the grass. Side note: It is astounding how big her poops are.
I also had to vacuum the floor, and use my new Bissell spot cleaner on the “messes”. She handled that well. Not as well as Garret and Tate (they just didn’t care at all).
I have trimmed her nails, and next up, she will need a bath.
She is a princess, and we are glad to have her as part of our pack. The house is now back to normal.