Thursday, June 21, 2007

A new doggie!!


We found a doggie today!! I skipped the whole afternoon at work and drove two hours south to Nowhere, WA to beat off other prospective adopters and at least one innocent bystander before this one got away from us. It was listed as a 2 y/o Tibetan Terrier (a country stray), and after spending the weekend with my mom's Tibetan Terrier I was sure it would be a good fit. He was also totally cute on the website they had for him, and they said he was "a happy social butterfly".

When I got down to the shelter and met the dog ('Buster'), he was just what they described him as - totally happy, social, and cute (although I'm not sure if he's really a Tibetan Terrier - he looks more like a poodle/terrier mix or something). I can't say that I fell in love at first site, but I think that's because his coat was terribly matted and he smelled faintly of skunk. The shelter was really out in the middle of nowhere, so there was a lot of room to take him out to a private spot away from the other dogs and really get to know him. He bounced around me for a while and then eventually calmed down and sat down. I wasn't really sure how one gets to know a dog in under an hour, so I did some of the stuff they suggested on a website my Studly Hubby found. I trotted around with him on the leash (he did well), made some noises at him (he stayed calm), grabbed his scruff to see what he did (he didn't react), called him to me (he came with his tail wagging), and generally socialized with him. He seemed fine, but I still feel like we don't know much - they had just taken him in as a stray, so had no idea whether he's been potty trained or crate trained (or even lived inside), whether he's good with kids, or ok to leave alone all day. Hopefully he'll be ok. He told me he would be.

We take him home Saturday (he's getting neutered tomorrow). Before we go get him, we're going to have a shopping spree at PetCo and buy dog food, a leash, scissors and industrial strength lavendar scented dog shampoo, and dog bowls. We're also going to work on coming up with a new name for him.

7 comments:

Peggy said...

Congratulations!!! Name for this little man? He's just too adorable for words.

Now here comes the unsolicited pet advice. If his fur is in such a rotten state and smells, I recommend taking him to a professional groomer for the first time at least.

Anonymous said...

Your Aunt M will give you some ideas about what he needs. For instance, tummy rubbing AT LEAST 6 hours per day. Congratulations!

Mandy said...

Definitely get it all shaved off right away to get rid of the smells and matted fur! Then it has a better chance to grow back all pretty!

Uncle KT said...

How exciting!! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your new baby!

J-Funk said...

Thanks guys for all your well-wishes! I am so excited I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning and am now waiting for the Studly Hubby to get up so we can go get him. It's like Christmas!! (jumps around)

I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Unknown said...

Awe...so cute! Congrats!

Time to take a break

 What do you do to relax? These past two years I feel like I have forgotten how to relax. It reminds me a little of grad school and how afte...