I'm (Lesley) writing this on Sunday while watching Henry destroy a Nylabone in the kitchen. Since getting Henry on Tuesday, Ben and I have found our lives to be changed quite a bit. I think the newness will wear off soon enough, but for now things seem completely different.
For those of you who don't know, Henry found us on the internet all the way from Arizona. Ben and I started thinking about adopting a dog, and we stumbled across Henry's profile on PetFinder.com (We highly recommend you check out online profiles of dogs needing adoption. There are literally THOUSANDS of dogs in need of a good home!) We began our search looking for a Puggle, a Pug Beagle mix. We had talked about getting a Beagle, but knew their hyper-ness and tendency to bark and howl could be an issue in our shared house. We have a downstairs neighbor, and the last thing we'd want would be for her to be up all night listening to our howling puppy! Anyway, we heard about Puggles and thought it might be the breed for us.
This realization proved to be a bit difficult, though. It was very important for us to rescue a dog, but we found very few Puggles available for rescue. We searched and searched, finally coming across the profile of a dog named Pusgley. We learned that Pugsley didn't have a very good start in life. A rescue in Arizona, Cast off Cockers (castoffcockers.org) found Pugsley in a trash bag with three other puppies. The other puppies were dead. Somehow, Pugsley survived. The other puppies looked quite a bit like Puggles, as did Pugsley (now known as Henry in case you were confused). The shelter rescued Henry and had him taken care of and placed in a foster home until he could be adopted.
This is where the story gets a bit freaky. Ben and I thought Pugsley's story was incredible, just as many others did. We didn't think it was feasible for us to consider adopting him, though, as he was all the way in Arizona. So, we kept searching.
Pugsley was never far from our minds, though. We looked at his profile regularly, hoping to find he had been adopted. After a month, Puglsey was still listed on PetFinder, and we decided to just send an email to the shelter. We explained that we knew they didn't adopt pets out of state, but that we were interested in hearing if they might consider it for this dog. We told the shelter we were nervous about getting a dog, but for whatever reason kept coming back to Pugsley in our adoption search.
I was floored to hear back from the Shelter within the day with the news that, despite their usual protocol, they would be willing to look over an application from us.
Shortly after, we completed the application and sent it in. We were approved on the condition we had a home visit to determine if we would be fit dog parents. We agreed, of course, and began the process of setting things up.
We realized it was a little ridiculous to drive to Arizona to adopt a dog when there were so many in Denver, but we just couldn't stop thinking about little Pugsley.
Unfortunately, we realized after a week that there just wasn't any way we could make a trip to Arizona before the first of the year. We were (and still are) planning to go home to Nebraska for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and will be spending New Years in Vegas. We realized it wasn't fair to the shelter to have them hold on to the dog for us, which we knew they couldn't do anyway, until after New Years, so we emailed them the sad news that we didn't think it would work out. We asked them to PLEASE keep us in mind if Pugsley hadn't been adopted in January, and made a small donation to the shelter in thanks for all their help and kindness.
Several days later, Ben and I were still itching to adopt a dog. I found a Puggle at the Municipal Animal shelter in Denver, and went to go see him. The Shelter itself was one of the most depressing places I'd ever been, and while the dog was wonderful, Ben talked me out of taking him home right then. I left the shelter fully planning on coming back the next day, with Ben, to adopt the dog.
As I was leaving, I saw I had a missed call and a voicemail from an unknown number. The message was from Cast Off Cockers, letting me know they might be able to BRING Puglsey to us. They were setting up a transport of dogs from New Mexico to Arizona, and the people who would be handling the move were FROM COLORADO! Talk about fate. Ben and I talked that night, thought it over, and emailed Diana, the shelter rep from Arizona, to ask a few more questions. We were a little nervous- why was this orginaization willing to go to such trouble to get us this dog when their policies clearly state they NEVER transported dogs, and very rarely approved adoptions out of state?
I received one of the sweetest emails ever in response. Diana let us know that they'd had many applicants for Puglsey, but none of the families seemed right. Some were older, some were not dog lovers, some were too young, and others did not live in a stable place. Diana told me that our applicaiton and initial email impressed her. She told me that our interest in Pugsley didn't seem fleeting- we couldn't get him out of her head, and that's what they were looking for.
With this information, Ben and I decided to move forward with the adoption. For the second time.
We were told Pugsley might arrive within a week, and began furiously preparing ourselves.
After several days, we inquired about Puglsey's arrival date once more. I was nervous that something had changed as I hadn't heard from Diana in several days. My suspicions were confirmed- the transport of the dogs in New Mexico had fallen through. By some luck, or fate if you believe in that sort of thing, the couple who had agreed to do the transport was still willing. The woman, Peggy, was planning to visit a friend in Arizona at the end of October. We learned we wouldn't get our puppy until November (this all took place at the beginning of October) but we would STILL GET HIM. DELIVERED.
So, after a series of lucky coincidences, we received Pugsley (now named Henry) on November 3rd.
Quite the story, huh?
Henry is everything we hoped he would be. Well behaved, sweet, loving...the list goes on. He's having a hard time going potty outside right now, but manages to use the Puppy pads 8 time out of 10 while indoors. The fiesty little guy got out of his crate TWO DAYS in a row while we were at work, but we think we have that problem fixed. He has yet to chew on anything other than his toys, and is excellent with other dogs. He sleeps through the night, and while he hasn't been eating too much, has made progress eating out of his bowl.
He had his first visit to the vet in Denver last week, where our thoughts as to his breed were confirmed. The vet thought he was most likely a Terrier mix- possibly Jack Russel, with some Pug based on his coloring and the placement of his teeth, and some Chihuahua based on his ears and general face shape. He weighs 16.5 pounds, and might get slightly bigger but it seems doubtful. Our vet thought he might have a little beagle in him based on his size, but thought the label of "terrier mix" would be the most appropriate description. Ben and I have been calling him a designer mutt based on the possibility he was bred to be a Puggle, but his parents were neither a pure bred pug or beagle. We don't care what he is- he's ours, and we love him to bits.
That's all I have the energy for right now, but either Ben or myself will try and post more later.
Love to all,
Ben, Lesley, and Henry
