a99kitten's Musings

It’s been 1 year since I adopted Smokey. He has 2 different birthdays (Feb and March) on his old vet records so we don’t know when his actual birthday is or his age (2 different years). So this means I am using his adoption date as his birthday and I decided on his age (6) :)

On January 27th 2014, my ex and I went to look at 4 dogs, all available through NorSled (where we adopted Shadow.) I brought them with me so we could see how Shadow interacted with the dogs. He was going to have to be friends with him (or her) so best to have him help interview too!

Smokey was the first dog we met as he was in the Woodland area and the rest were in the bay area. So we met him on the way down. When I walked in and met him and hung out with him for a short time, I instantly loved him. He was not black & white, like all of the others I was going to see that day and he was not as fluffy as Angelus and Storm or Shadow and we had no idea of his mix beyond husky and/or malamute mix. But he was the sweetest guy ever. I left there to go look at the others to make sure I wasn’t just taking the 1st dog I met since losing Stormy in August but I knew I loved him.

Met 3 other fantastic dogs who were all gorgeous, lovable, sweet and needed homes but Smokey stayed in my mind. So after all day of driving and meeting dogs and foster moms and dads (and frankly I think Shadow was getting stressed thinking he was being dropped off somewhere!), we decided to stop and eat for the 1st time that day. Buffalo Wild Wings. Mmmmm.

I sat there thinking how would I feel if I drove home and didn’t get Smokey – and I felt immediately sad. So we called the foster mom and told her we were coming back to see him again – this time letting Shadow have more time with him. We took Smokey and Shadow for a walk along with the foster mom – who I think was sad to lose Smokey (she was originally going to keep him but that didn’t work out for non-Smokey reasons).

That was it – I decided then to do it. Signed all of the paperwork, wrote a check and loaded him in the car. Had Shadow in the backseat and Smokey in the back back. I think Shadow was starting to wonder what the heck. But he did get along best with Smokey as well. I think he was most happy I didn’t get the girl husky as she was half his size but kept kicking his butt as female huskies are likely to do!

First night in his new home!

Got home around 11pm. Smokey was pretty stressed – obviously. New house after stranger took him away from his mom of 11 months. We woke up 3 or 4 times during the night. I was worried he had to go potty, but I think he just wanted to walk back to his old house.

It took a few days for him to calm down a little and settle into a routine but I’m good at routines :) Angelus and Storm trained me. He still gets stressed when his routine changes. But he has settled into a pretty darn calm and happy guy :) And honestly, he has been a dream. How anyone could have not wanted to keep him (and hurt and abandon him) is beyond me. He had gone through several homes and all this proves to me is that people generally suck and most probably have no business being responsible for a pet rock. But I’m a wee bit cynical.

After losing Angelus and then Storm, I was pretty sad for a time there. Now, I am happy literally every day. And I hope he feels the same way. I’m pretty sure he does. :)

His 1st snow! 1/30/14

1st beach visit at Mavericks! 2/14

Full of smiles :)

Snow fun with Shadow 1/15

Happy Birthday Smokey Dokey :)

His daily adventures can be followed at http://packdog.com/smokeydokey

And anyone can donate to NorSled. These people work endlessly to find northern breeds homes from bad (and sometimes VERY bad) situations and need every penny: http://www.norsled.org/how-to-help/

Took Shadow out in the fresh snow this AM. He was FIRED UP!! Run, run, run, stop, eat snow, run, run :) Hiked uphill as it continued to snow on us and I took a gazillion cute pics of him having fun.

Then I got a weird feeling. Looked around, didn’t see anyone or anything but just felt weird. Ran to catch up to Shadow and BAM – slipped on some ice and down I went. Darn it. I know better. Luckily experience has taught me to twist a little so didn’t land on my tailbone and my arm took most of it. Shadow immediately ran up to make sure I was OK (or see if any of the cookies fell out of my pocket…) and I put his leash on.

Not 30 seconds after his leash was on we see 2 coyotes. Whew. Shadow would have taken off to play with them for sure! Score 1 for listening to gut feeling!! If only I could apply that more to my trading account.

Started heading back down the hill and get allllllmost home and decide to cute pic of Shadow. My phone?! Not in pocket?! Oh….good…I bet it’s right where I fell and IT fell out of my pocket instead of any cookies! Shadow failed to mention that…

Let’s go back buddy. He looked at me like “what?? back uphill??” We charged back up the hill quickly as I was imagining my phone being buried in the still falling snow and falling victim to the dreaded water damage. Found it! And it worked and seemed perfectly fine. Whew.

Back down the hill we went and Shadow got more crazy running time. I let him off leash again as we got closer to the house and away from where the coyotes were. Got home and he didn’t even run straight to the kitchen for breakfast! Fed him and he went right to the deck door and looked at me with pleading eyes “let me back in the snow LadyMom.” OK…and he fell right asleep as he was being snowed on.

Successful snow morning mission!

http://instagram.com/a99kitten

…we adopted this messy, drooly, fluffy, critter-hunting pig pen of a beast…

Beast

Shadow has been a challenge for sure but he has made a lot of progress in becoming a good canine citizen. I’m glad we rescued him and have been able to give him a life he can enjoy, even if he says he is being abused when not allowed to catch all of the chipmunks that torment him from the yard :)

Storm still says “he is a disgusting mess and keep him far away from me.”

Adoption day

Got Snow?

Yesterday we had a 4th of July BBQ to go to. I suggested we only go for a couple hours at most since Shadow is still new and he definitely seems to have serious separation anxiety. Husband said we’ll go and he will swing back in a couple hours to give both Storm and Shadow dinner, take them out and then head back to the BBQ for fireworks. OK…To be safe, I closed my closet door, hid my husky stuffed animal I keep on the bed (he stole it once before but didn’t damage it) and made sure all of the screen doors were secure (he knows how to open doors with his nose if ANY opening) and moved anything remotely edible from the kitchen counter.

Well, husband went back after about 2 hours. I got a text message that said “You don’t even want to know.” Oh boy.

Apparently Shadow grabbed my PJ shorts off the bed and shredded those. I liked those :( And took one of the bed pillows into the living room but only drooled all over it so it just needs a cleaning. Then by jumping on the door to the garage, opened the door and shredded the recycling. But the door closes on its own so it closed him in the garage where he was stuck without water until husband got there. He said he opened the garage door from the car and Shadow came running out and all stressed out looking He knew it would be bad from there.

He cleaned up a bit and fed both buddies (Storm was out on the deck perfectly quiet and content.) Then he brought Shadow back to the BBQ and just kept him on leash by him. When the fireworks started he did get stressed but husband walked him around and calmed him down and he was OK. Angelus HATED fireworks. And Storm could care less. Shadow seems in between on the stress scale about them. He zonked out in the car on the drive home and went inside and went right to sleep. The stress from the day clearly knocked him out. Poor guy.

It is clear he was hit when he did anything bad by his former parent(s). He gets very stressed and scared looking. I hate people. He was also probably left alone lot. We need to work on both of these things. He needs to feel safe. I knew leaving him that long would be bad. I raised 2 awesome dogs (perfect IMO but I might be a little teeny bit biased) who were never afraid of me or of being punished/hurt/yelled at. But a rescue has been quite different than raising a puppy. Unlike Angelus and Storm, Shadow is more husband’s dog than mine so we’ll see how that goes. I’d be doing a few things differently but Shadow loves him more so he gets the responsibility too!

Just received his DNA test back. They say 100% husky. SO NOT TRUE. Yes he clearly has husky in him – I’d even buy a full 50%. But he is not 100% husky. No way. He’s too big (Angelus was big for a husky and this guy is about 12-15 lbs bigger, longer and taller.) If I had to guess I’d say German Shepherd or wolf based on his coloring, lankiness, length, love of swimming, and his one-person attachment. But oh well – he’ll just be a husky mix. ALTHOUGH husband just pointed out that the company does not identify wolf, coyote or dingo. SO…maybe husky is the only “dog” identified and he is part wolf which I called after his first 2 days with us.

The only real damage from his time alone was some minor door scratches which can be fixed and my poor, cute PJ shorts :( They had little squirrels on them so I think he really just likes to eat squirrels!