After we had to put our dear, sweet 9-year old Chrissy to sleep last summer, I was lost. Well, really, I just missed her so much. I hadn’t had many dogs in my life, so she imprinted my heart so deeply. I mourned her. I still mourn her. Though she was given to Ian as a Christmas gift in 1997, she really was “my” dog.
Earlier this year, I began thinking that we might be able to add another dog to our family. But with our schedule, I really knew that I needed to consider only an older, hopefully already housebroken dog; an adoption or rescue. My family was planning a very special trip to Alaska this year. It was going to be two weeks long! I didn’t feel it was right to bring a new dog into our family and then “desert” it in a kennel for two weeks while we went away. So I knew I had to wait until after we returned.
But, I began to look around. I looked at rescue groups’ websites. I looked at Petfinder.com. I looked at Craigslist.com. There were a few dogs that were close to fitting my requirements. Into April and May, I began emailing some of the owners about their listed dogs, “… but I won’t be ready to add her to my family until after June 21. Please keep me in mind if she’s still available then.” But all those dogs found new fur-ever homes.
In searching for my next dog, I had a certain “look” that I wanted. A friend of mine has a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd with the most astounding crystal blue eyes! His name is Foster. Foster was so remarkable, I needed to find my own “Foster-ette.” Shelters didn’t have her. Aussie Rescues didn’t have her. Craigslist didn’t have her. I searched Google for pictures of Australian Shepherds and Australian Shepherd puppies. That’s when I saw her. Just a pup of about 8 weeks old. A light brown fluff ball with blue eyes. In the second picture of her, she had light brown eyes. What color were her eyes? She was from a breeder in New Mexico. She wasn’t the color I was looking for… maybe I need to have TWO? I thought about her for weeks. Every time I went back to the website, she was still available. My decision to finally purchase her could be the topic of a whole other post. But, I just knew that I needed to be the mommy to this gorgeous puppy.
After one entire week with her, I have a few reflections:
We have our moments. I see great potential in her… I just have to get her (and me) trained! She’s very sweet. But she’s also very headstrong and brave! We’ve got puppy nipping and biting going on. When she knocks over a gate, it doesn’t faze or frighten her… she just keeps on. My son is doing well taking her out on a strict schedule. And she hasn’t met a stranger. We’ve had just one accident… It was totally my fault. I was getting a little too overconfident and somewhat testing her stamina when I invited her upstairs. She chased a cat down to the living room and I followed her. But as I turned to go into the kitchen, she stayed in the living room. She’s still not accustomed to her name, so calling her does no good. I went back to the living room to collect her and she was squatting, mid-pee. “Oh, my.” Now I’m back on a strict schedule with her. Other than the one incident, she’s done all her other business outside.
She likes little rawhides that are treated for dental health. She likes to get a hold of one of Ian’s socks and play “keep-away-from-mom.” She likes squeaky toys. We took her to the Petco and Petsmart again on Saturday night and she picked out a squeaky octopus and by the time we got to the back of the store, she’d already plucked one of the eyes off. HAHA! We also found a squeaky sheep that I felt she HAD to have. Since she doesn’t have any cattle to herd, she’ll have her sheep! I’m trying to get her accustomed to being brushed. I introduced doggie toothpaste to her. I tug on her ears and paws; I stick my hands in her food bowl while she eats. These things do not bother her in the least. She loves to chase a running cat. The cats have finally learned to jump over the gates… but, I’m afraid they are teaching Denali the techniques to jumping. It really won’t be long before the gates are of no use. When Doug comes in, she gives him a big toothy smile! She likes to fetch her sheep and bring it back. We’re working on “give.” This morning she climbed up in my lap to eat some breakfast (yes, I’m hand feeding her a handful of kibble until she decides I’m not feeding it fast enough and she gets down to eat the food on her own) and chew on her chewy (rawhide.)
After breakfast, if she does all her business, I invite her up to my bathroom while I get ready. When I use my hair dryer, I let her sniff the air that comes from it. I figure that if I need to give her a bath, I’ll probably need to use the hair dryer on her, so this is just getting her used to it, also.
I’m up at 5:15 to take her out. I’m going to bed at 11:00 or midnight to make sure she’s had enough one-on-one time with me. I’m exhausted. Other than that, when I look into Denali’s gorgeous eyes, I melt… and it gives me more determination make sure that we both get the training that we need and we practice so that it’s all effective.
I no longer feel lost. I missed being a dog-mommy, more than I knew. This is where I need to be. Denali’s new mommy.
Welcome, Denali! I love you.
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