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AdoreMyDogs
07-22-2012, 11:50 PM
Boone took the death of Kersey really hard, which I expected. We all took it hard. Boone and Kersey were like 2 peas in a pod. They were so mutual in their existence. I didn't even really know who held the alpha dog title. They had such a peaceful coexistence. They did everything together (except car rides, which Kersey didn't like). They did their outties to the yard together, walks together. If I couldn't take both dogs somewhere, I chose not to take either dog, to avoid splitting them up and hurting feelings.

Boone's days, since losing his canine sister, consisted of laying his head on the window sill and staring out at nothing. He wouldn't even go outside to potty without someone going with him. He was in bad shape, and his hurting just made our hurting all the worse. On top of not getting enough time to grieve the loss of my best girlfriend in the world (she was diagnosed on Sunday night at 11:30ish at the emergency vet, and didn't respond to the pain killers and steroids as hoped, and I made the final decision on Tuesday morning to say goodbye), my sweet Boone was merely a shell of who he was before Kersey died.

Boone needed a friend far more than I needed more time to grieve.

With that being said; I went to the shelter with an open mind, but leaning towards a small, female, light-colored dog. It's funny how you can go into an adoption with certain expectations, and end up with the complete opposite. I had imagined something Caviler King Charles'ish. Something small, but not tiny. I looked at every dog. I looked at the small dogs. I looked at the light colored dogs. I looked at the female dogs. Heck, I even found a few small, female, light colored dogs. I even made sure I met all the bigger dogs. I saw them all. We even went to the homes of a couple dogs that were out of the Humane Society and in a foster home. Nothing clicked. Nothing fit perfect. I was headed to a shelter in a different county hoping to find my next dog, and I got a text from my husband saying that his (idiot)co-worker dumped her two labradoodles at the Animal Control Reclaim Center the night before, and claimed they were strays. I like labradoodles, I thought, what the heck. Turned the car around and headed to AC. Now I'm not sure how AC is in other cities, but in this city, it's bad, bad, bad. Dogs are given 3 days and if the HS does not pick them out to take to the shelter, they are killed. 3 days is all they get. The HS is totally full, and every foster home is full, so they're not even able to pull any from AC. Sooooo, I went to AC, and saw them. It was a father and his son. The father was a yellow labradoodle and his son a 5 month black labradoodle. The lady who dumped them only had them 2 days, and my hubby overheard her saying, "they were too big, and they made big messes". She had them two days, duh, they were that big when you GOT THEM!

Anyway, the labradoodles were the first cage, and they were beautiful and friendly. I made sure to look at all the dogs at AC, and it broke my heart. Most were so scared they wouldn't come up to the glass greeting window, some tried to kill me through the glass window. Some were so terrified, looking at them made them piddle....the labradoodles were lovely. Came right up to the glass and wagged and wagged. I could tell that they were loved at one point in their lives.

I knew I didn't want an adult dog (even though he was light colored), and I certainly didn't want an adult in-tact male. That's just not a good mix for Boone. So on Thursday when the labradoodles had spent the required 3 days at AC, I met the little black 5 month old. It was truly love at first sight for everyone. I brought Boone to the meeting, and they hit it off immediately. It seemed too good to be true, but it's not. My heart aches for Kersey. I loved her like no other. She was the best, most amazing dog I've ever met. I am absolutely certain Kersey had a paw in this meeting. In the conversation my hubby overheard from his idiot coworker. The timing. Everything.

Without further ado, here's Ollie Fuzzypants Baxter, our new baby. He's totally house trained, crate trained, great with my kids, and when I first took Ollie and Boone to the back yard, Boone immediately play bowed with Ollie, then proceeded to chase him and be chased by him. They played some tug-of-war with the rope toy. Why that woman adopted two big dogs at once when she didn't plan on keeping them is beyond me. The father, I'm happy to announce, also got addopted. It was meant to be with Ollie :love:

Here he was at AC before I bathed/nail trimmed/brushed him. Our first face-to-face meeting.
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After some much needed grooming. He's smiling!
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He's so cute and fuzzy, with his gangely legs.
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Vincent approves of his new fuzzy pup. Ollie approves of his new tiny human playmates.
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Cute close up
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AdoreMyDogs
07-22-2012, 11:55 PM
I was jumping on the trampoline with my son, the dogs were playing in the yard, then Ollie surprised me by hopping on the trampoline. Vincent thought it was hilarious, me, not so much since Santa just got it for them this past Christmas.
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I'm certain if Boone could talk, he'd be complaining about how unfair this is!
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My angels. My Quinn, and my puppy who has feet like a bear cub, and is most likely going to be huge.
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My boys.
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Eventually I will think of Kersey and smile, laugh. Right now I'm crying all the time, but I'm comforted by the fact that Boone isn't crying all the time. He's re-living his puppyhood. He's happy, and that brings me some comfort. Kersey doesn't want me to be sad, and I'm sure that's why she connected me with Ollie so quickly. I love him and am thankful for his healing little spirit in my house.

Karen
07-23-2012, 12:31 AM
Congratulations, and we know Kersey helped send this little guy to you, even if he's the opposite of who you thought you were looking for!

cassiesmom
07-23-2012, 12:51 AM
Hello again, Ollie Fuzzypants! We met on Facebook but I will happily enjoy these photos of you and your new family again! I don't know much about labradoodles, so I'm going to learn a lot as I read about how you and your new family are adjusting to one another. I love the photo of you snoozing with Quinn :love:! I definitely think Kersey had a part in this happy beginning, too. Welcome, Ollie Fuzzypants! I'm so happy to meet you tonight!

krazyaboutkatz
07-23-2012, 01:21 AM
Congrats!!!:D He's adorable and looks like he's been with you for a long time. I hope he'll have many more happy and healthy years with you.:)

cloverfdx
07-23-2012, 07:30 AM
Oh Leslie i am sure miss Kersey had something to do with your meeting with Ollie. Luna (Border Collie girl) came to me in a similar way, but she was to help me heal not the other dogs :). I was not looking for a female Border Collie, i was more thingking a large male Rottie type dog or another male BC lol. These things happen for a reason and are meant to be. Our new friends will never replaced our lost big red girls, but they certainly help us.

You have been in my thoughts they last few days :love:.

Freedom
07-23-2012, 07:35 AM
Look at those legs! (Photo 3). He sure has some growing to do, ha haaa.

I'm so glad you have added Ollie to your family. Boone approves! That is so wonderful, that you thought to put his needs in the decision making.

Also glad you were able to learn the father was adopted. IF he gets neutered, maybe you can have play dates? Maybe not.

AdoreMyDogs
07-23-2012, 08:58 AM
Thanks for the nice replies. The lady who adopted Ollie's father (his name is Dusty), is now my friend on FB. She's a really responsible dog owner who was looking to add a 3rd dog to her pack. Dusty seems very happy and will be getting neutered next week. I'm really happy for her and for him. She's a really good doggie mom.

I wasn't able to get Ollie to be neutered until August 29th, but I figure that will be OK since he's only 5 months old. Oh something cool about Ollie, his birthday is Feb 20th and my daughter's is Feb. 21st. It'll be easy to remember his birthday! The lady who originally dumped them at AC, had adopted them from another woman who had them 2 months and fell ill and had to re-home them. They were kept in cages the entire 2 months that they were there. They were "bred" by a family member of the lady who gave me all the info on them. They've been bounced from home to home several times, poor babies.

For those of you who might not know, a labradoodle isn't a real breed. It's a designer breed created by breeding a labradore retriever with *usually* a standard poodle. In Ollie's dad's case, he seems a little more lab-ish than poodle-ish. He had the shedding gene of the lab, and his fur was less poodle and more lab. He had the beard and general look of the labradoodle though. Ollie is really very standard poodle-ish. He even has the gait of a standard, and he's all curls. Dusty, Ollie's dad, will not require regular grooming since his hair is streight and more lab-ish. Ollie will require grooming since he's more poodle than lab. I wish I knew someone who could show me how to groom him myself, it's really expensive to get him clipped. Wow.

Anyway, thanks. He's a great dog, has great house manners, listens well, and loves my kids, my Boone, and does not terrorize the cats (although the cats are still mighty mad). I think it's going to work out really well. His first obedience class is at the end of August.

Bengalz
07-23-2012, 09:27 AM
Congratulations Leslie and Boone and Ollie:love:!! What a great way to heal a hurting heart - I know Kersey is doing the happy dance:).

Labradoodles are awesome dogs. My girlfriend just got a puppy - his name is Teddy and he is amazing. Sweet, smart and a wonderful friend:D.

I just know your family will feel much better day by day and Ollie will be there to help:love:.

Taz_Zoee
07-23-2012, 10:27 AM
Awww, this brought happy tears to my eyes.
But I have to wait until I get home to see the pictures. My computer here at work is just too darn slow to open the photos. Plus I'm supposed to be working (shhhh) and don't have time to wait for them to load. :)

Welcome to a wonderful home Ollie!! :D :D

kaycountrygal
07-23-2012, 02:52 PM
oh My! A new beginning for Ollie & I'm relieved his father was adopted by someone else.! I'm so sorry about your Kersey; it's so hard to lose a beloved pet/friend/companion. On a happier note, I am so glad you found Ollie who will help all of you cope with the loss of Kersey. It sounds as if Ollie will be a good fit at your house. I noticed he has long legs in one of the photos, long enough to wrap around you and give you a hug for adopting him. Good Luck!

Grace
07-23-2012, 06:23 PM
I love his smile :love:

thbaker41
07-23-2012, 06:47 PM
Hey good for you for saveing one's life and he is really a nice looking dog. I totally know what you mean buy not getting anything like you expected. Lost the best dog I have ever had not long ago and I just love dog's and got one right after Nike's passing and looked online for maybe a medium sized dog saw a couple from the local shelter and Braggo was one of them so I go down there and he was the first one they brought out I was like ok thats not the same dog he must have ate the other one he's just to big but one big sloppy kiss and a couple of whine's and well here he is. I am really happy that the new addition is helping out with Boone and cheering him up well just love good news like this :)

robinh
07-23-2012, 06:50 PM
Saw this on Facebook and was so happy for all of you. My first thought was Kersey knew everyone was sad without her - you and Boone needed a new friend to help you grieve and learn to laugh again.

We found that with Shamus - we are sure Max sent him to help us. It just took a little longer for us to get the picture.

Congratulations to all!!

Scooter's Mom
07-23-2012, 09:23 PM
Ollie is super cute!

Alysser
07-25-2012, 09:39 PM
I am so sorry about Kershey. I guess I didn't see that post.

But congratulations on Ozzie!! He is beautiful and your family looks so happy to have him around!!:D:D

chocolatepuppy
07-25-2012, 10:25 PM
Welcome to Pet Talk Ollie! You're adorable!:love:

Varga
07-26-2012, 01:02 AM
He is so cute :) I'm glad he was a good match for the family.