I did it. I adopted a dog.
You should know this decision was not taken lightly. Sure, I’d decided that now was the time because I was a bit spooked living in my new house all alone, however this was a decision I’ve been thinking through for many years. My friends remind me that I’ve been talking about getting a dog for as long as I’ve been volunteering with rescues and shelters, which has been a good three to five years now. It was back when I was volunteering at the new Best Friends and Salt Lake County Animal Services collaboration “shop” that I first discovered I loved Pit Bulls and became a Pit Bull advocate. The breed is highly misunderstood.
However when the time came to adopt a dog, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I’d been talking about getting a Pittie for years, however with such a small house and my yard not being totally fenced yet, I was contemplating a smaller dog. Some kind of terrier, maybe a cute small white dog or something. I wasn’t sure and I knew I needed to do my research in order to find the right dog for me. So when I heard about a local Pet-a-Palooza adoption event, I decided to meet up with some friends and head on down.
Saturday morning started bright and early as Brittany dropped off her new puppy Pepper at my house. Brittany and her older poodle Apollo were off to run a marathon together, but Pepper was too little to go, so I volunteered to puppy sit for the morning. Around 11AM Julie showed up with her Weimaraner Ruby to pick Pepper and I up for Pet-a-Palooza, where we met Brittany and both Pepper and Ruby got microchips which were free for the day. Then I decided to walk through the kennels and see if there were any pups I fell in love with. But there wasn’t.
Since new pups were arriving here and there I walked through the kennels a good three or four times, and though there were some adorable dogs, none of them seemed like dogs that had to come home with me. There was no way I was going to rush into such a big commitment, even though I really wanted a dog, but I knew that when it was right I would know. None of them were right. I did meet a pit named Leo, but Leo was a big boy (he probably weighed 90lbs or something) and Leo and I didn’t really hit it off-even though he was a sweetie. Interestingly enough, I saw my pup there-but he was being looked at by someone else and I didn’t think much about it.
So Julie and I dropped Ruby off at home and decided to head down to the Humane Society of Utah. We looked at so many dogs, and even walked a cute little terrier chi mix who was super docile, but when we asked about his history it turned out that he had been returned due to being a biter and couldn’t be around kids. Even though I don’t have kids, I do have godkids and friends with kids, so I didn’t dare take the risk. In spite of one teeny chihuhua making me feel super guilty about putting him down, we left empty handed.
Salt Lake Count Animal Services was just across the freeway, so we decided to stop and have a look there first. I’d spoken to the lady who was in charge of the Salt Lake County Pit Crew earlier and she’d recommended I go down and have a look if I didn’t hit it off with anyone at the event. We were warned straight off the bat that there were only a few dogs because of the event going on, but we went on back to look at the kennels. Nearly all of the dogs there were Pibbles. There was a gorgeous blue nose who paid us no mind, a pretty tan one named Bubba who was barking and growling fiercely so we passed him up, and several others. I really wanted to meet one named Cognac, but he’s bad with cats so they recommended we meet Bubba. We were assured that even though he was acting crazy in the kennel he was a staff favorite.
The minute Bubba was pulled out of the cage he was a different dog. He was affectionate and happy, and all he wanted in the whole world was to play with a tennis ball. It didn’t take long for Julie and I to decide that Bubba was coming home with us, and after some quick checkups with the vet, licensing, and tons of paperwork-Bubba was in the car enjoying his freedom ride. It turns out Bubba loves car rides.
We dropped Bubba off in the bathroom (which was totally untouched when we returned-good boy!) at my house while we ran to Petco to gather some supplies I needed for a new dog. So much stuff, so much money, but so so worth it. We even bought him a name tag, and since he responds to Bubba so well we kept the name-though his official name is Handsome Bub, and I mostly just call him Bub. After going home we quickly learned that Bubba can’t have soft toys because he destroys them fairly quickly, but he was so proud of himself for it!
As of tomorrow, Bub will have been with me for a week, and I could not be happier. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to adopt an extremely well-behaved dog. Now, I know that it will take some time to see his real personality as he warms up, but so far he’s been the picture of good behavior. He hasn’t barked (or made any sounds for that matter) since he’s been home, he doesn’t get on the furniture… I am starting to see a few more bad behaviors as he warms up, such as he ate my remote and he peed in the house (but I don’t think he knows how to tell me he has to go out, I want to train him to ring a bell) but all of these things will be corrected in time. When you get a new dog, you do have to keep a constant eye on their every move. This will ensure that you know what they’re doing. Obviously, as the dog has just moved to a new home, he isn’t familiar with my routine yet or the house itself. People do say that new dog owners should expect to have to clean up any accidents that your dog may have in the house for the first couple of weeks until they understand that the garden is where they should be going. Whilst Bub hasn’t done this yet, your dog might decide to poop inside your home. If they do, it’s important to clean it up straight away. There are many reasons why pick up dog poop is so important, but one of the main reasons is because it could cause bacteria to build up. As this isn’t what any homeowner wants, it’s important to make time to clean up after your dog and to make time for toilet training. Bub seems pretty good at going outside, so I’m not too worried. However, it’s something that I’ll need to prioritize for training.
It also looks like he is the picture-perfect dog in terms of his health too. Even though it’s early days, we haven’t run into any health concerns as of yet, which I’m incredibly thankful for. Dog Allergies can be just as common in pets than humans, so before I got him, my friends told me to have a look into supplements just in case any arose, but as I said, it looks like he has a clean bill of health, and we haven’t had to use them yet. I think it’s just fair to say that he is perfect in every way.
He’s even been pretty good when being home left alone all day while I’m at work. I feel super guilty each day I go, and I get those sad eyes every time, and a few times I can hear him scratching at the door and whining after a leave-even if I leave him a bunch of treats-he only wants me. One time I caught him, he had pulled my robe down off the chair to snuggle with it-I think because it smells like me. Awwww.
I’m so smitten with this dog. I keep asking him if he wants to stay forever, and he responds with big puppy dog eyes and the smallest little lick to my nose. I’m pretty sure that’s a yes.
Have you rescued a dog? Tell me about it!
