Tuesday, July 19, 2011

"Oh Where Oh Where Could My Little Dog(s) Be?"

It's been over a month since Aria and Doc were rehomed and about three since Baloo found his new Mama. It's been quiet around here without those little monsters running around and I miss them like crazy, but they are all doing great in their new homes. The best part is that all three Dachshunds went to family members or friends, so we are able to get updates every once in a while. Here is an update on each pup.

Aria: Aria went to live with Mr. K's mom and is the Princess of the house. She had her first birthday on June 10th, just a few days after she moved into her new home. She has the run of the house and is a good girl while Mr. K's mom is at work. She doesn't need to be crated anymore and uses the puppy pads during the day while she waits for her new Mama to come home. She loves to go out on the front porch, attached to her little doggie leash, and watch the neighbourhood kids playing. Mr. K's mom takes her for car rides, to her son-inlaw's baseball games and wherever else she knows she can get Aria into. Aria also has her own spot on the couch and Mr. K's mom put a blanket there for her.  Sometimes Mr. K's sisters will stop by the house and check on Aria while their mom is at work. Aria also gets to go over to the ball diamond that is just around the corner, when it is not occupied, and run around like a little maniac. Aria loves when the grandkids come to visit because she gets to play with them. The girls like to take her for walks and brush her. She holds still for them and is patient with their efforts to beautify her. Whenever she is given a bone, she runs about the living room and hides it. She later goes looking for it and has to check all of her hiding spots until she finds the one she left it in. True to her nature, she did escape from the house one day. Mr. K's mom left the window open for Aria so she could have some fresh air. Miss Aria, being the escape artist that she is, figured out how to open the screen, squeeze her little butt through and took herself for a romp. Thankfully, a neighbour saw her and put her back on her doggie leash where she safely waited for her Mama to come home. She sleeps in her crate at night and will go straight in when her Mama opens the door and says, "go nigh' nigh'." We were worried she'd be lonely without having other dogs, since she was always with other animals, but she seems to have adjusted to being the only one getting attention just fine. She has adopted a giant stuffed, cat hand puppet as her "baby" and carries it around with  her; despite it being waaaaaaay bigger than her. All in all, she is doing well and loving her new home and she also seems to be good for Mr. K's mom who was living alone.

Baloo: The little Kissie Monster is still his kissie self and is happily kissing the crap out of my friend Lindsay. The quiet, shy puppy that used to live with us has become a crazy, energetic dog. He will be 1 on August 22nd and has grown exponentially since he moved out. He has gone from 8 pounds to about 12 of good solid dog. He barks now, which he never used to do, but I think it's good since Lindsay lives alone. He is still confused as to why Lindsay's two cats, Zelda and Articia, won't play with him and he tries every day to engage them in playful battle: they just powder puff him in the face  and he moves on. He too gets to have a lot of outings and if Lindsay can't be with him, her dad gladly takes over; bringing Baloo everywhere. Baloo's interests now include yard saling and long, walks/runs on the beach. He sleeps with his Mama and insists on bringing toys to bed, like his favourite stuffed duck. This duck happened to be bigger than him and he decided putting a hole in it and de-stuffing it was a good idea. He looked very upset when Lindsay removed it. If he is upset, Baloo will sit down and put his nose on the ground and pout. Whoever says that dogs don't have emotions, has never had one, or has never gotten to  know one. Baloo is a joyful little guy who loves going for car rides and outings with his new Mama. He too adjusted well to being the only dog and feels that it is his sworn  duty to aerate Lindsay's lawn. He loves sticks and going to the dog park and thinks he's a big dog. Again, another happy pup in a good home.

Doc: Doc was the one who was with us the shortest time and he has gone to live with my uncle, his wife and her kids. They also have a rescue dog named Beatrice and Doc and B have become the best of friends. They play wrestle and run zoomies out in the fenced yard. Doc gets to go for walks and to the dog park. At first, he was afraid at the dog park, but he has since opened up and has a great time. B had some dog sensitivity issues, but since Doc came around, she is doing much better. They play a game where Doc will attack her face, she'll swat him with her paw and if she can't pin him down that way, she'll lay her chest on top of him. This game goes on forever. Doc also likes to chew the knotted ends off of the rawhide bones and chase them around the house. He also thinks that the big bones belong to him and B thinks the little bones belong to her. They are a tag team. One day their Mama came home to find Doc on the table eating dog cookies and B on the floor eating the ones Doc had pushed down to her. There was an incident where Doc sunk his little teeth into my uncle's hand, but he accidentally did the two things we told him not to do-don't corner him or grab him if you've cornered him. His Mama had called him to go out before bed and being the stubborn Dachshund that he is, Doc ran the opposite direction. My uncle went after him and went to catch him to take him out and Doc bit him, drawing blood. After a good talk, my uncle understood why Doc had bitten him and everything was good. Both B and Doc are rescues in a sense, since we got Doc when he was 9 months old and had been living in a kennel from birth. That experience left him a bit skiddish at first and a bit defensive. When you take on rescue dogs, you accept that they may have certain behaviors due to their past.  Another time his Mama and Dad came home and could not find him. They searched everywhere and were very worried. They finally checked the basement where they found Doc lying still: they were convinced he was dead. My uncle approached him and realised he was not only breathing, but that he was wearing a chip bag on his head. Once they removed the chip bag, Doc hopped around happily, probably thankful to be rid of the torturous contraption. They figure he hopped on the kitchen table via a chair, stole the chip bag, emptied its contents and then got stuck in it. He then probably tried to get out by walking farther into the chip bag and not being able to see where he was going, he crashed down the basement stairs. He then got stuck in the corner where they found him and gave up until someone came home to rescue him. This story proves that he is still the crazy, silly little Doc man that lived with us. He too is a happy guy with a lot of people to love him, take him for walks, feed him treats and a big sister, Beatrice, to play with.

As you can see, all of our rehomed little guys are doing very well. They are all eating good food-especially Doc who is eating some crazy healthy  thing that I would feed them-and living in very loving homes. All of their new owners always say how much they love having them and it makes Mr. K and I feel better about having to give them up. Sometimes rehoming really is the better option. I'm just really thankful to the people who took our dogs and made them an important part of their families.

6 comments:

Brooke, Cessna, Canyon & Rogue said...

I'm so glad to hear your little fur babies are doing well in their new homes. It's so nice to hear how their settling in and maturing.

Brandi just recently had to decide on giving Dawsen back to Golden Rescue and is still grieving. I got an e-mail from the foster home he's currently in and he's loving his new canine pals and the man says he is one of the best fosters he's had. He has already shown his foster Dad some of the issues he has that Brandi could not handle, so it was nice to be able to tell Brandi this so that she didn't think it was just her. The man also said he could see how well he was loved and said he was quite well-behaved beside the issues he has with food obsession. I'll probably try and write a blog entry about the whole situation soon, but I thought I'd mention it here so you know there are others going through similar situations :)

Hopefully you'll be able to see them all the next time you're in Michigan and Canada.

L^2 said...

Yay, It sounds like Aria, Balloo, and Doc are having lots of fun in their new homes. Glad to hear they are all doing well.

Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Mom said...

Thank you so much for the update. I think about Baloo all the time. He was, after all, my first boyfriend.

And that was very funny about Doc and the chip bag. BOL

Jodi said...

Thanks for the pupdate! Sounds like Baloo is really flourishing as an only pup! It is just awesome that you get to keep up with their stories and their lives.

Jen said...

Great to hear they are all doing so well and are in great homes. It was also good for me to read a post like this right now, as I still haven't made up my mind about Dougal's situation yet.

Just Jess for now said...

Brooke: Oh no. I am sorry for her. I know she is probably having a hard time, but I'm sure she did what was right for both of them.
L: Thanks :) They do seem very happy.
Amber: Lindsay tells me that Baloo thinks of you often. He sends his kisses your way-I'm sure you will always have his heart...the funny thing is I was going to put that in the post and forgot. :)
Jodi: Yeah. I always wondered if he would do better being the only one getting the attention and turns out I was right. He loves playing with other dogs, but he loves even more to go home with just him and his Mama.
Jen: I hope it helped. If you ever want to talk about it, send me an email. I may not be able to give you answers, but may be able to be a sound board for you. I really don't mind-I know how hard this decision was for us, especially because of my strong feelings about dog adoption and such things. So, if you just need to chat, fire an email my way. :)