Adoption Day

First, I’ll start by saying I’ve never blogged before, so I don’t know how this works!  If nothing else, I hope it serves as a way to remember how this goes.

Now for some introductions! B,C,D & the GSV; B=Bailey, C=me, D=Delilah and the GSV is my boyfriend, Mike.  I contemplated the name “GSV, GSD, Bailey & me” but it was a little too long.  So we’ll start with the human story first… Mike and I have been dating for almost two years.  We met at work.  I fell for him and asked him out ;-).  We live together in a cute lil house in a cute lil town.  I adopted Bailey (a 55 pound mix) about a year and a half ago when she was around 5-6 months old.  Probably the best decision I ever made.  We had some troubles starting out… fleas(x2), almost every kind of worms, mange and a severe aversion to humans/socialization issue.  I can say she’s in great health now and she’s actually made a lot of progress on the socialization but we know we have a lot to work to do, just takes a LOT of patience.

So what am I missing from the introductions… oh!  Delilah!  Well, Delilah is the newest member of our family and she is a tripod.  We adopted her today from MOGS.  Mike read her story a few months back and fell in love with her… I knew he’d been wanting a dog and Delilah was the first dog that I even partially considered.  It took awhile for me to be sold on the idea, but once I was sold, I was committed.   I’ll write more about her story and why we were so drawn to her, but right now I’m going to focus on the events of the day.

Since Bailey has some socialization issues, we took her to our 6K race this morning and let me tell you, she did awesome!!  No growling, no barking, a lot of tail wagging and giddy prancing.  I love the giddy prancing.  She ran very well too, one poo break but that’s it!  After the race, we loaded her in the car and headed to Kansas City to meet Delilah.  The drive there went well.

Showed up in Kansas City and Mike got to meet Delilah.  Then Bailey and I chilled in the yard and waited for our turn!  They had us introduce the dogs VERY slowly, which I think was confusing for Bailey.  Normally we do the introduction process a lot faster and Bailey goes into play mode.  I don’t know if it made a difference that Delilah was uphill from us too.   That’s okay, we’ll take it slow :-).  Good things are worth waiting for.

The car ride home went shockingly well.  Bailey played co-pilot in the passenger seat and Delilah and I kicked it in the backseat.  She is definitely a snuggler.  Both dogs behaved very well, even when we stopped for gas.  Want to know the most shocking part?  We stopped at PetSmart to get Delilah a crate and see if they had the food she’s been eating and they both behaved like angels!!  Got out of the car and they were excited to see each other and when we went to the grass so they could potty it went GREAT!  Also, we went inside and took Nancy’s advice and walked like we had a purpose to the crates.  Bailey did not growl at anyone, even though there were plenty of opportunities.  So then we got home, did a few laps in front of the house, let the doggies stand around each other.  They haven’t played yet, but they seem to be doing well in each others presence.  Backyard test was a little harder because it’s muddy from the recent rain.  In the house, I think Bailey’s just confused, but we’ve kept them on the leashes and they are actually both sleeping near our feet, so I’d say it’s going ok!  Once they sleep off all the new experiences of the day, I’m sure we’ll have our work cut out for us.

I think that’s enough for today, it’s just about bed time and we all need our rest so we can have a good day tomorrow.  We still haven’t decided the best place to put the crates for the pups to sleep in.  That will be the hardest thing for me, I think, I’m very accustomed to Bailey snuggles at night.  Oh, and I have to be ready to work on my “mom voice” (as Nancy from MOGS puts it) when saying no.  Maybe I should practice by calling my mom and asking if I can get a tattoo.  I’m 26, but I think her answer would be the same as ten years ago 🙂