What I Did On Summer Vacation

You may notice the last blog posted before this was a few months ago. There is a very good reason for this hiatus...I lost my mind. Somehow - I can't remember exactly how it was accomplished - my family convinced me to adopt a puppy.

Our original plan was to adopt in the beginning of August, while the boys were still home on summer break. As it turned out, there were not any puppies that fit our particular requirements in our local shelters. We found a wonderful organization through Petfinder.com. So near the end of August, we found Suzi at the Lonely Hearts Rescue (based in Frederick, MD) and brought her home. (Note: although she looks like a mini-Chloe, they are in no way related)

You may be thinking "You're a dog trainer. So what's the big deal?" Well, being a professional trainer, I knew EXACTLY what I was in for. Housebreaking, nipping and biting, whining...oh, and did I mention housebreaking?

So not only do I agree to adopt a puppy under some temporary insanity, I - yes it was me - chose this dog. As you can see, Suzi has some Beagle in her. The other half is reported to be Jack Russell Terrier.

I've always been a big fan of JRT's, and think Beagles are awfully under-rated. Both breeds make fabulous family dogs when they are properly raised and trained. But both breeds are high energy. We've been living with calm, adult dogs for about 10 years. It was really hard to prepare myself for this shock to the system.

Suzi seems to have the best traits of both breeds. She is an extremely social, intelligent dog. I'm actually suprised at how easily she is adjusting to our family life. The past couple months required a lot of re-organization and rethinking on our part. But I think we've finally gotten into the groove. More to come...

What's One More?

For those who don't know, or remember, we lost our beloved Pit, Jesse, this past Decemeber. Last week, I got a yen to go onto Petfinder and search for adoptable female Pits. As expected, there were many. But, unexpectedly, I came across one that looked almost exactly like Jess did when we first adopted her.

When hubby got home that night, I asked him to talk me out of emailing the contact. He did not. I was put in touch with the foster who called a few days later. The dog sounds absolutely wonderful and I was all ready to meet her. But when talking with my husband again he had some more, good logical questions. After some more Q&A and a good night's sleep, we decided it's not the right time for us to adopt a third dog.

Yes, you read me right. We already have two adult dogs. Our 11-year old Golden is actually one of the main reasons we decided not to adopt again. He is starting to slow down and require a bit more care. As it is, I have taken to walking the two dogs separately. Chloe, our hound, needs more exercise, while Buddy is needing less. Also, when we meet other dogs on the street, it's much easier handling one dog. Do I really want to walk a minimum of 3 times a day?

Another reason we decided to wait and rethink is our kids. When we adopted Jesse, we had no kids and thus, much more time to devote to her special needs. Yes, we've done it before and I could do it again. But I can't assume it will be the same. Our lifestyles have changed. People very often forget to consider this when they get the adopting-bug.

Finances also factored into our decision. We feed our current two a high-quality (cha-ching) diet of frozen raw and canned tripe. I don't want to have to cut back on quality to account for quantity if it's avoidable. The rescue dog would also have required a lot of up-front veterinary care that woulbe be better put aside for Buddy as he is aging.

While there would, of course, be emotional benefits to rescuing a third dog it's just not the right dog at the right time.