Emergency Back Up Dog

Recently a few friends have politely inquired why I adopted a puppy. I know what they really wanted to ask was "What in the Hell were you thinking?!"

Here is the answer. With Sadie's diagnosis in the fall of beginning of kidney disease, I realized all of my animals were elderly. Sadie - 13 yrs; Newman 11-12 yrs; Dagny will be 10 yrs. next month. I also had this realization - like a giant flashing neon sign outside of a bar offering 2 for 1 drinks - that I was a dog person. This doesn't mean I choose dogs over cats. It means that I love having a dog around and always want one in my house. Can't imagine NOT having one in the house. I debated for awhile if Dagny would even tolerate another dog. And having had other dogs around, Dagny seemed to best around boy dogs and mellow boys. I thought long and hard about what dog I would like to have for the next 12-15 years. My friends have this amazing golden, Torrin. I love that dog - he is a good boy and very easy going - and that was the archetype for what I wanted. I also knew that Jody had/has put in an amazing amount of time training Torrin.

Fast forward. In January/February, friends at the office were circulating a picture of a 4 month old lab named Jake that needed a home. One of my friends had already adopted 2 of his litter mates. I called to inquire but Jake was already spoken for - 6 times over. But I knew that I was ready to consider a dog into my life. And all that a new dog requires - training and feeding and vaccinating. A few folks told me the breeders of their dogs had pups available. But all my beasts have been rescues.

In April, an agent told Tacha, my business partner, about a litter of puppies his newly rescued dog, Hazel had just had. I still debated and procrastinated on meeting the pups until they were about 6.5 weeks old. But it seemed like a great opportunity to still rescue a pup (Atlanta Lab Rescue), 1/2 of the pup would be a lab and I was able to meet the mum. She is a sweet chocolate lab.

The long and the short of it was I asked for a mellow male and met with the 3 boys of the litter. There were 2 boys I was interested in - Durant & Harvey. Lucky, the third male, was the male version of Dagny. (I love Dagny but she was really high energy as a pup and never sat still! Training was so difficult. I know that now more than ever dealing with Gus who is easier to train how hyper she was. I wanted something completely the opposite of my Ricochet Rabbit.) There was a couple who had arrived a few minutes before me to interview pups and they picked Durant, the last born & smallest of the pups. I went with Harvey - now known as Gus. I had the name picked out before I ever met him. I figured no Gus did anything in a hurry. And when I first met Gus, he was very interested in me and my tennis shoes but after about 20 minutes of investigating and play, he crawled under a cabinet and went to sleep. Perfect!

What I didn't know was that I would have a dog by 8pm that same night. But how in the hell can you say no to a pup after a cup of Star Bucks full leaded coffee and the cutest little pups crawling on you?

Dagny didn't talk to me for the first few days. She snubbed me and looked at me with daggers in her eyes. I assured her that she was still the Diva in charge and that Gus was merely a back-up reserve dog. She was still the number 1 dog.

I have never once ever regretted or second guessed my decision to add in Gus. And I have been thrilled with my selection of pups. I knew things would be slow with Dagny and the pup. And I never had any expectations they would actually be pals. It surprises me every day how they play and interact. From the beginning Gus has loved Dagny but his adoration was unrequited for a good month. On several occassions, I found Dagny by Gus' crate. And Dagny was actually was the second dog on the bed in the picture below. She actually joined Gus in a side by side chew. And while she does enjoy taking his bones and toys, she has been showing him how to be a good dog. And for that I am eternally grateful.