 | |
| Introducing Gus! |
My husband Joe and I had been considering adopting a dog for a
long time. After weighing the benefits
of adopting a puppy versus an adult dog we decided to take the plunge and have
the full puppy experience. We wanted a
medium sized dog that could chase a frisbee, has minimal shedding, and gets along
with our cat, an 8 year old tabby named Tootsie. We talked to friends and family, breeders,
and did some internet research and decided we liked the look and temperament of
a popular mixed breed dog, the labradoodle.
We prepared for the puppy by borrowing an exercise pen, bed and crate
from my in-laws. We also purchased some
puppy food, treats, toys, and bitter apple spray to apply to the furniture and
our shoes to deter chewing.
 |
| Will Tootsie and Gus be friends? |
We found a breeder who matched
us to a puppy based on our lifestyle and the puppy's temperament testing. The 3.5 hours car ride home from the breeder
went smoothly, other than some puppy carsickness. We were worried about how he would react to
Tootsie, but he did not even notice her for about 2 days. She watched him from a perch. The puppy and cat have touched noses a few
times, but if he gets too close and excited, she will hiss or even swat at him. We plan to keep him separate from the cat
when he is very excited and looking for play, and let them interact when he is
sleepy and relaxed.
The first night the puppy slept about 6 hours in the crate before
we were awaken by barking and whining.
We were relieved that he was able to rest that long and thought we were
on easy street. The second night we were
not so lucky. He woke up in the middle
of the night barking and crying. I took
him outside but he did not need to use the bathroom. He continued to bark for about 2 hours and we
were worried about waking up all the neighbors. The third night we moved the
crate into the bedroom, which seemed to solve the problem of barking at
night. The puppy had been feeling
lonely, missing his mother and littermates.
Still, he is quickly adjusting to our home. I made a list of my 15 favorite dog names in
the days before the adoption and asked my friends and coworkers what they
thought about the names. We decided to
name him Gus after trying out a few names the first couple of days.
 | |||
| Sleeping soundly for now. . . |
Stay tuned for more updates about Gus as he grows up in his new home!
No comments:
Post a Comment