The Best Medicine

I did a thing. I know, I know. The practical side of me is thinking this is a bad idea. For a lot of reasons.

The emotional side of me is arguing. Let’s do it. It could help. No. You have enough on your plate.

Yep. Travis adopted a puppy.

Travis grew up with a dog in our home. You know how that story goes. The kids beg for a dog. They will feed the dog, and pick up the poop. The kids play with the dog, but that is pretty much where their involvement ends.

Our family dog died shortly before Travis moved into his own home. Just a couple of months later we rescued a kitten for him. He had always wanted a kitten but we never had one because I am allergic to most cats. Both of our children got cats when they moved out.

At the same time that Travis moved into his own home, we bought our home in the foothills. Our house sits on 46 acres. I began walking and hiking. Walking to our mailbox and back is seven miles. Tracy does some traveling for work. He thought it would be a good idea for us to get a dog. He wanted me to have a dog walking with me. He also wanted a dog that would bark when someone approached our home. He thought I would be safer having a dog.

I did not want a dog. I am allergic to some dogs as well. I was allergic to our family dog, Oreo, that we had until she was fifteen years old. It broke all of our hearts to lose her. Tracy gently nudged me to keep my eyes open for a dog.

One day we were at a friend’s house. Their daughter had brought a bunch of puppies over to play. I had fun playing with and holding all of the puppies. How could that not be fun? They were looking for homes for the puppies. When we were leaving Tracy asked, “Are we seriously leaving here without a puppy”?

Weeks later I saw an ad for a chocolate lab that was a year old. The family was moving and couldn’t keep the dog. I called and left a message but never heard back. I assumed that they had already found a home. That dog wasn’t meant to be.

One day I found an ad for a 4 month old Redbone Hound puppy. I did some research and found that they are good family dogs. I asked Tracy to meet me in town on his way home from work so that we could meet this dog. I must have sounded excited because he said, “You mean so that we can pick up this dog”? Her name is Peanut and we did go home with her that day, seven years ago. She was living in a apartment with two other large dogs and no yard. There was a bit of grass in the parking lot medians.

Peanut came right to me and showed me love and affection. The guy gave us some story on why the family couldn’t keep her. He had wanted her to hunt with. He told a story about something coming up and finances, blah, blah, blah. Within a few days of her living in our home I realized that she simply did not have the demeanor to be a hunting dog. She was afraid of her shadow. She wouldn’t eat from the metal bowls that we bought her because she could see her reflection. She was startled by the wind blowing the grass when we were walking . She runs and hides when she hears loud sounds. Like thunder or gun shots. But also like timers going off. She was, and I guess still is extremely clumsy. She wasn’t the perfect dog for him, but she is the perfect dog for us.

When you know you know.

Once Corey and Matt started their family and owned their own home, Corey wanted a puppy. She is the kind of woman that knows exactly what she wants and goes after it. She was like that with choosing a puppy. She wanted a miniature Australian Shepherd. It just took her awhile to get Matt on board.

They purchased Addie from a breeder in July of 2016. Australian Shepherds are high energy dogs. When Addie was not getting enough exercise, she was sure to let you know. By chewing on one of your favorite things. Or on the couch. Corey did a good job of running with her in their neighborhood. The problem was that Addie was crated while they were at work during the day. Corey and Matt would come home to let her out, or they paid neighbors to tend to her for a bit.

When Corey worked from home, Addie was by her side. Which is great, unless you’re working with children on learning therapies or evaluations. Addie was so energetic and playful that she was a constant interruption.

Corey asked us if we would dog sit while she, Matt and the boys took a two week vacation. We are set up perfectly for dogs. We have a doggy door in the mud room that goes out to a deck. The deck wraps around from the front of the house to the side of the house. There is a large fenced-in area allowing plenty of room to run behind the house.

Addie is a herding dog. When I took Peanut and Addie for walks, I did not have to leash Addie. She always stayed within 15-20 feet of me. If I stopped walking, she ran back to me to herd me. If I walked five miles, Addie easily did at least ten. She didn’t chew on anything while she was here. She was simply too tired! I sent Corey pictures of us having fun while they were gone. I wanted to let Corey know that Addie was doing good.

Peanut seemed relieved when Addie went home with her family. She was used to more quiet time. And not sharing attention.

A week or two later Corey called and told me that her family had made the difficult decision to rehome Addie. It became apparent to them that she needed a home like ours where she had tons of space to run. Corey shared that the boys (my grandboys) were very upset, but they understood. Corey asked if any of our neighbors might want her. I tease her that she worked me like a day job, telling me how upset the boys were. She swears that she didn’t.

Addie came to live with us when she was about nine months old. She still sees her boys, but loves living where she can go in and out and roam. Peanut and Addie are now best buddies. Peanut misses Addie when we take her to town for a spa day.

Travis has been asking for a dog for years. If you follow my blog, you know all the reasons that I didn’t think he was ready. I gave him goals to work on. I wanted him to show me that he was responsible by cleaning the cat box and bird cage. I feed his bird when I visit his house. I top off the automatic feeder for the cat. I change out both the cat and the bird’s water. Either his live-in aide or I clean the cat box. I clean the bird cage.

I don’t just do these things. I ask Travis to. He promises he will. After a couple of weeks of asking I have to clean the cage. I simply cannot ignore it and let the bird live in such a mess. Travis intends to do these things. Then he forgets. Or his mental health has sucked him dry of any energy or motivation.

Travis doesn’t have the ideal set up for a dog. His yard is small and not fenced. Meaning that a dog is going to need to be walked. Travis stays up late at night and sleeps in. A dog will need to go potty while he is sleeping. A dog is a much bigger responsibility than a cat or a bird.

Travis got increasingly spun up about having a dog when he was offered a puppy a couple of years ago. It was a difficult situation because not only was he not ready to have a puppy, his mobile home park does not allow pit bulls. Over the years he has been reminded about this dog being his and told that he needs to come get it. These comments are not helpful.

Travis went through a very difficult period where he told me that he was going to leave Colorado if he couldn’t have that particular dog. I finally had to say ok to him leaving. A couple of weeks of very tough caregiving followed. He was angry. He couldn’t believe that I was going to let him leave.

Travis and I began to have conversations about what type of dog he might have one day. For some reason he had it in his head that he needed a full breed dog. The dogs on his want list cost thousands of dollars. We sat down and had a conversation about why it is important to rescue a dog. I shared with him that when we adopted him we were not looking for the perfect baby. We were looking for a child to love. We adopted him because we knew we could provide a baby a safe and loving home.

Travis told me that taking care of a dog would be different. He was certain it would be something he could be good at.

I’ve talked before about constantly second guessing my parenting decisions. The mental illness piece complicates matters. When Travis perseverates on something that he wants to do, but is not given the chance, he spirals downhill. I begin to wonder if I am doing more damage than good.

I soften to the idea. I pulled up the local humane society website and look at the available dogs. Some of the dogs were not good with cats. Some of the dogs needed to be in a home with another dog. The dogs were all adorable in their own way, but none of them were the right one.

I refreshed the website daily. I was surprised to see how quickly they were adopted and different ones showed up. I did this for a few days when I saw Estelle. Estelle is an eight month old puppy. I’m thinking she may already be potty trained. She is half border collie and half lab. Which makes her all adorable. She weighs 35 pounds at 8 months. So she is not too small and not too big.

I admit, in the back of my mind I was thinking, “Will this dog be a good fit with my dogs”? I don’t want another dog. But depending on how this goes, I might end up with one.

I called Travis. I knew I was going to wake him. I told him that I saw a cute dog on the humane society website. I also told him that they were closing early that day for the Thanksgiving holiday. That boy was up, dressed, out the door with his keys and wallet in less than fifteen minutes. This is a huge accomplishment in itself.

I tried to tell him not to get too excited. Estelle may or may not be the one. When Travis arrived there was a line. He was told it would be more than a hour wait for him. He asked me to text him her picture. He said I want her. I reminded him that he had not even met her. He told me that he could feel that she was the one for him. I told him there was a possibility that someone in line ahead of him might choose her.

Travis met her and spent some time with her. The humane society allows an hour, but he had decided she was the one within minutes.

I handled the adoption paperwork over the phone and just like that, Travis has his dog. He changed her name to Sheila.

Travis brought Sheila by our house so he could pick up a crate and a bed. He wanted us to meet her. She has a sweet disposition but is also full of energy. I read through her paperwork. She was surrendered because of her energy level. Tracy and I talked to Travis about the commitment he needed to make to be sure she got enough exercise. Travis has driven to our house three times this week. A forty minute drive.

I wish I could say it was because he wanted to see us. He sits out on the deck while Addie and Sheila run off their energy and Peanut stands around watching. One of the days Travis brought Sheila here to run, she climbed into her crate on her own when they got back to his house. Travis has made numerous videos with Sheila in them. She does a pretty good job of listening to his commands.

She gives him tons of love and kisses. I watched him as he laughed. They say laughter is the best medicine. That and the love of a dog.

“Sometimes the best medicine is unconditional love from your pet.” - Author Unknown

“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, and filling an emptiness we didn’t even know we had.” - Thom Jones

“You’ll never get the dog that you want, you’ll always get the dog that you need.” - Cesar Millan

“No matter what life throws at you, at the end of the day your dog still loves you.” - Author Unknown

Seriously.

Sheila