This weekend we celebrated our puppy’s first birthday and the weather turned towards real Winter. It’s still technically Fall here, but November is usually when the real cold starts. It was -5 today, which is not bad, but it’s also windy, making it feel colder.
I had a cavity repaired on Saturday which brought us to the city, and we decided to go shopping for Winter coats. Sport Chek was having a huge sale and I got the coat I wanted for 40%-45% off! I was so happy and it is so warm. Mr Lobster Shorts found one too.
I was in the mood for warm and hearty when we arrived back home. I made soup from yellow lentils (moong dal), potatoes, cauliflower, vegetable soup cubes, potatoes, spinach, and a heaping scoop of curry powder. It was my intention to put a can of coconut milk in the soup, but it was fine without it. It was delicious. I turned off the lights, lit the candelabra, and loved how cozy it made the table. The bread was a multigrain loaf from the grocery store and it was delightful. It was a romantic, cozy ending to the day. We curled up on the couch together to watch a movie but were both falling asleep before it ended.
Sunday started with this super simple, delicious breakfast made with sweet potatoes, I got the recipe here. It was yummy and easy! We made one for the dogs too (minus the blueberries for Otis. He gets explosive diarrhea from blueberries. Although I’m pretty sure after all the sweet potatoes and cupcakes, we’re going to be waking up to something horrible tomorrow morning). Sunday is usually pancake day for the whole family and the dogs love it. They circle the table and kitchen like sharks until it’s their turn. They are not patient. Today we had something a little different. We all loved it, puppies too. Aren’t blueberries and sweet potatoes such a pretty mix of colour?
After breakfast, we took the dogs for a trek through the woods and tested out the new Winter coats. They did really well! We were both toasty warm. Otis still fit in last year’s boots thank goodness. For a street dog, he’s got sensitive little toes! Oliver doesn’t need them unless there is a lot of salt. The pups had fun in all the snow and didn’t seem bothered by the cold at all. I figured Otis would be okay, with his thick golden retriever fur, but Oliver is half-spaniel and his coat isn’t very thick. No coat, no shoes, no problem. He wasn’t cold at all.
Lunch was the leftovers from last night’s dinner (minus the candlelight). Isn’t soup always better the next day?
Oliver was wondering why we weren’t sharing lunch with him! He IS the birthday boy.
Doesn’t Otis look adorable in a birthday hat? This only lasted long enough to snap the photo, then he pawed it off his head.
Oliver was less chill about the hat. His expression here says it all. He took off running with the hat in his mouth after the photo. We had to chase him down before he ate it. Good times little buddy!
Birthday shenanigans ended with mini vanilla cupcakes (from the grocery store) and a new toy. Both dogs are currently having a late afternoon nap sleeping off their treats and morning walk. I’m sitting in a beam of sunlight enjoying a hot cup of tea, content.
It’s been two and a half weeks since we brought Otis home from the airport. The first week was hard, the second much easier. Now that we are all fitting into our routines, it’s been wonderful. Otis was 27.8kg this morning at his weigh in and is now over 61lbs! He seems much happier and has been amazing with the puppy.
He wags his tail in a circle like a helicoptor. When he hasn’t seen you in awhile he makes cute little happy grunty sounds. So many cute little things he does. He’s still very skinny with lots of loose skin. When he eats and leans forward over his bowl, his face sags forward and wrinkles up like a sharpei. He is also a significant drooler and his eyes are still droopy. These things might all be from being so underweight.
After his weigh in, we went down to the Stonetown Cafe and got our usual breakfast of coffee, and egg and cheese sandwiches on an english muffin. We got the dogs and sandwich to split too. It was longer that Otis is used to walking and he was quite stiff afterwards. We’re trying to not push him too hard, but also want to build up his muscles
Both Otis and the puppy have been sleeping all afternoon. It’s been rather nice. I love how much they love each other. Quite often they sleep curled up together. It makes my heart happy. The both of them are very affectionate towards us. Otis frequently asks to be pet and loves belly rubs. I don’t think he’d welcome a big squishy bear hug yet, but he trusts us more and more every day. I am so happy Jay wanted to stand by him. He’s a sweet, stubborn, wonderful dog. I’m so glad he’s part of our family now.
Back in January/February we answered an ad for an animal in need, on Petfinder. Petfinder is a website that lists the pets available at multiple animal rescue agencies. It’s a pretty awesome website you can add filters to and find the kind of pet your looking for. It’s not just for dogs either, it has many different types of animals: cats, dogs, pocket pets, barnyard pets, lots. I’m going to post a copy of the ad I answered, below.
COAT LENGTH Long HEALTH Vaccinations up to date, spayed / neutered. GOOD IN A HOME WITH Other dogs, children.
Petfinder recommends that you should always take reasonable security steps before making online payments.
Meet Sable
This is Sable. He was living in a school yard in Turkey. He was so nice to everyone and always so happy to see everyone and some people were not very nice to him. He was very skinny at the time but since being rescued he has gained weight. He is about 6 years old. He is your typical golden; not a mean bone in his body. Very easygoing, loving, happy and gentle. He is good with other dogs. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sable, now Otis, was a stray in Turkey, living at a schoolyard before he came to the shelter. Besides what was listed in the ad, this is all we know about him. We chose him based on the description of his temperament. We wanted a dog that was safe for Ollie, our puppy. To avoid stress on the dog, once they are adopted they go straight to your home from the airport. I believe this is called a blind adoption. You don’t meet the dog before you bring them home! EEP!
Otis was flown from Turkey to Pearson Airport by Homebound Houndz (the rescue agency we used). The flight was close to 11 hours long and he was held up in customs for another three hours. That is a LONG time for a dog to be in a crate and I’ve no doubt the whole experience was pretty stressful for him.
Once the dogs are cleared and ready to leave the airport, they bring them out in crates to the arrival gates where you pick them up. It’s a pretty busy road and I was really nervous about him panicking and running into traffic. There are volunteers with the agency that are there to help you and I am so greatful for that. They stayed really late with us while we waited for our dog to clear customs and got the dogs collared and leashed. They have you bring food and water for the dogs because after a long flight like that they are ravenous.
I was shocked by the condition Otis was in when he came out of the crate. They warned us the dogs would be smelly, and dirty (they are in an outdoor shelter and unable to give the dogs baths before they come (if you get your dog in Winter, which we did). We were warned by the rescue agency that our dog was extremely underweight. Otis was all these things, dirty, smelly, and emaciated. He was much skinnier than I had realized. I tried to give him water first, he didn’t want it. He stuck his head in the bag I had brought with me. He wanted the food. I had about two cups of dog food with me and he ate the whole thing. All this was happening on the sidewalk at the airport. There were people walking by constantly. At one point someone with a large cart of things needed us to move so he could get through. I was very nervous about moving the dish of food away from a starving dog, but Otis let me. He just followed the food.
It was around 10pm at this point and we were super tired and just wanted to go home. After Otis finished eating we opened the car door and patted the seat for him to get in. He came willingly and without any coaxing. Jay drove and I rode in the backseat with the dog. Otis wanted to sleep most of the way home, but would occasionally nudge my arm for snuggles and pets, while I told him about all the fun things we would do together. We made one pit stop to go to the bathroom (he never went in his crate on the plane WOW) and then we continued the rest of the way home.
We had planned on introducing our puppy Ollie, to Otis on a walk outside. We had not anticipated the delay in customs. We didn’t get home until after 1am. We were so tired we were reckless and just let them meet each other right away in the house. For the next hour we watched with knotted stomachs as the dogs met for the first time. It wasn’t a dream meeting of waggy tails and puppy snuggles. We basically watched Otis hump Ollie for the next hour. They didn’t seem to be trying to kill each other and we were exhausted. We decided to go to bed, I had a train I had to catch in four hours. They must have settled down soon after because we didn’t hear them for too long. Neither of us slept well that night.
While I was getting on the train and all during the day, my spouse was sending me photos and updates. There was still a lot of humping going on, but the two of them were getting along okay. Otis got along pretty well with my spouse too. He was so dirty he looked wet and he smelled really bad. I remember we had a huge snow storm that day and I was worried about the trains not running and not being able to get home. I also briefly fell asleep at my desk!
I was finally able to give him a bath the next day. He was a dream in the bath. He just stood there while we scrubbed him. The water coming off him was pretty nasty. You can see how skinny he is. Even after the first bath he was still waxy feeling and we would want to wash our hands right away after touching him. He had so many mats in his fur. Both my spouse and I slowly brushed them out during the next few days. He’s looking so much better.
We did have an incident on the way home from the vet’s office after a weigh in. Otis got some snow, or salt in his paw and we tried to help him out by trying to dig it out. It was extremely naive of us to think we could just go ahead and do that. Otis had only known us for less then two days, he was in discomfort, and we were both looming over him. He snarled and snapped at us. I was so surprised. He had been so sweet and gentle so far. We didn’t have his trust yet.
I was ready to call it quits after that. It’s really scary to have a large, adult dog snap at you (even if he is all skin and bones). I spent the rest of that weekend in tears and full of regret. What a mistake I had made! I was in over my head and so overwhelmed. What had I done! How had I thought adopting a strange dog from another country was a good idea!? My spouse was horrified that I was ready to throw in the towel. He loves Otis and wanted to give him a second chance.
It’s now a week and a half later. Otis is still here, he’s had a second bath and has been a real sweetheart. He’s gained over 2kg in the last week. He started out weighing 23kg and today he is weighing in at just over 26kg. My spouse was able to put his boots on with no problems and he was pretty good for the vet too. No snapping. This morning I was sitting on the floor and he climbed into my lap for snuggles! I’ve read that it’s pretty normal to feel regret after getting a new dog and usually it passes. I think we’re going to stick with it and I think it’s going to be okay. I love him too.
Lobster Shorts 