Duke's First Pictures

Here's some of Duke's first pictures in his new home. =)

Duke and Steve

Duke an I

Sleeping on his new bed

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! (Belated that is..) I've been so busy with the holidays and things have been crazy this past week. So here's an update finally!

We met Dee last Tuesday at a Petco near my parent's house. You could tell she was a spunky little girl right off the bat. She greeted us, coming over and sniffing us. What a cute little thing! Then Steve and I reached down to pet her and she started barking. It startled me quite a bit. Karen, Dee's foster mom, gave Steve a treat to give to Dee so she would warm up to him. He tried petting her again and she grumbled at him which made me nervous. She was quite a spit fire. We took her on a walk around the store and off she went! She was good on the leash for us, mostly Steve. We asked Karen about her behavior with kids, other dogs, etc. We found out that she is food aggressive (Steve says that's just like me!) so we would have to feed her separately. We thanks Karen and her husband for bringing Dee up to meet us and then did a little puppy shopping. After we bought some doggie essentials we had lots to think about so we headed to my parent's place and cooked dinner for them. =)

After Steve and I did some talking we decided that Duke would be best in our little family. So, I called Suzanne (I had been calling her Susan this whole time....oops!!) yesterday and left her a message when she did not answer. We were hoping to pick Duke up tonight or tomorrow and get some time in with him and get him accustomed to his new home while someone will be home more than not. Especially since I am on break and have a few more hours in my day. =)

I was out at Target today when Suzanne called me back. She said that she was so happy that we were interested in adopting Duke. Apparently he has been with BBR for the past 4 years. My poor little puppy! She also said that we would only need to pay a fraction of the cost, since he will be coming due for shots and vet check up in February. She said that she would bring him by tonight after she picked him up from boarding. I was sooooooo excited! So I ran to the pet store asap to pick up Duke some dog food and goobies. =) Did I mention I was totally freaking out?! I scoured the pet store for what I needed then headed to JoAnn fabric to pick up a zipper for Duke's bed.

Once home, I hurried to wash Duke's bowls and put his food away. I finished making his bed and got his basket with toys out for him. Everything was set and all I had to do was wait for my Duke. Once Susan got here, Duke rushed right in the house and started up the stairs. While Duke looked around and grunted at Suzanne, I filled out his paperwork and signed the adoption papers. And that was pretty much it!

Duke has only been with me for a few short hours. It has been filled with separation anxiety, naps, a potty trip outside, and lots of love. Speaking of, my little guy is up! Must run! I'll update more once he gets settled in. =D

Holiday Blues

They say that the holidays are the worst when you've lost someone. I never realized how much it was true until this year. I find myself thinking about Christmas and wanting to cry, strangely enough. After losing both Briar and Belfie, I knew that Christmas was going to be hard but I never thought it was going to be this rough. Belfie's been gone for 7 and a half months and Briar for a month and a half and Christmas has never been harder. I keep thinking about how this time of year I would be home from college lounging about all day with my babies eating Christmas cookies and watching Christmas movies or wrapping gifts and trying to keep all the puppy fur out of the presents. I think about how I miss their fat little faces and kissing them and loving on them.

Although they're gone, I know they were hard at work at getting my family Christmas gifts. They managed to wrangle my mom and dad a new little monster for Christmas, named Moses. A two and a half month old Saint Bernard. Moses is also a gift to me since he is my new sibling. =) And they did even more than that for me. This year for Christmas I'll be rescuing a senior of my own and I thank my little angels for helping me get him or her as fast as things have gone.

So while I'm missing my babies and trying not to be so blue, I'll just have to remember all of the happy memories and gifts they've given me. Merry Christmas my little angels. Sissy loves you and misses you.

More craziness...

I talked to Patti last Wednesday night. She called to talk to me a little more about the adoption process. So here is the lowdown.

Once you have been approved your application goes to an adoption counselor. Once the adoption counselor (AC) gets the application, they will call and talk to you about what type of dog you are looking for and set you up with some matches. Next the AC will give you the contact information of the foster parents who have the dogs. Then you call the foster parents to hear more about the dogs. If you are still interested in the dog once you talk to the foster parents, you can set up a meeting to meet the dog. If you met the dog and everything goes well, then you can sign the adoption papers, pay for the puppy and you may take the dog home. There is a 7 day trial period in which you may make sure that your dog adjusts well. If the dog is not adjusting well, they may be returned to BBR and then the process starts again. If your puppy adjusts well....he is yours! =)

Patti said that she would be forwarding our application to Ann, an adoption counselor. On Saturday we got the call from Ann. =) She gave us the numbers for Duke and Dee's foster parents and told us that she would let them know that we would be calling. On Sunday, we were supposed to go to a Petco event in Oak Creek to meet some BBR people and adoptable dogs. Since the blizzard was kind of crazy, we decided it would be best to stay home, so unfortunately we didn't get to go. Instead we decided to call the foster parents and talk to them more about Duke and Dee.

We called Susan, Duke's foster mom, first. She was very sweet and told us a little about Duke and asked us if we would like to meet him. Of course we said yes we would and she asked when would be a good time for us since she worked during the week. We asked when would be good for her and she said "Well, do you still have some time today?" Shocked, we said yes!! So we picked a time to go meet Duke.

We then talked to Karen, Dee's foster mom. She sounded like a good girl but then we asked the critical question. Since we live on the second floor condo, we need a dog who is comfortable with stairs. Karen said that they lived in a ranch, so she was not sure how Dee would do with stairs, but she would test her out on a flight of stairs comparable to ours and then she would get back to us. We told her that if she did well with the stairs we would still want to meet her and Karen said that her and her husband would be more than willing to meet us halfway since they live about 2 hours from us, which was wonderful. We got off the phone with Karen and got ready to go meet Duke.

I was pretty much a nervous wreck heading out to meet him. I was so scared that I was just going to fall in love with him and want to bring him home with me. We got to Susan's house and were greeted by 3 basset hounds, Duke & Harold & Tilly, barking at the door. =D Once we got in and made our way to the couch everyone was trying to love on us. Duke sat right in between Steve and I on the floor and looked at us like "Love me". I instantly fell in love with him. He let me pet him and love him the entire time we were there. Susan told us that Duke was left outside a house with another female with a sign saying "free". One of the BBR workers picked the pair up. Three days later they were adopted but before a week was up, Duke was given back to BBR because the adopters had too many dogs and Duke was overwhelmed by them. Duke was given to Susan this year because the family who was previously fostering him was moving.

My poor heart broke for him as I sat there and pet him. How could no one want this poor little boy? All he wanted was someone to love on him and give their attention to him. He grumbled as we petted him, signaling that he was really liking the love and petting he was getting. Susan told us that we could take him on a walk to see how he did on the leash, so we took her up on it. Susan got Duke's leash and we headed outside with him. Duke definitely had the distinctive basset bound as we walked on the sidewalk outside the house and he was very good on the leash. We took him back to the house after a few minutes, since it was frigid out! After spending about a half an hour at Susan's with Duke we left. We told Susan we were still going to meet with Dee before we made a decision.

I knew this would happen, I am in love with Duke. If I could have, I would have loaded him into the car that minute and brought him home with us. He is the sweetest little thing and you can just tell how much he wants to be loved.

After we got home and started to make dinner, Karen called us back. She took Dee somewhere to try out the stairs. She said she did great with them. She ran right up and down. So we said we would love to meet her. Karen said that they could meet us at the Kenosha Petcodoggie.

Overwhelmed

Oh my lord. You would not believe the night that I had last night. It was absolute craziness. It started with my very first guitar lesson. Apparently I catch on pretty fast and was sort of a "natural", which was shocking but awesome. Then we were late heading out to the BBR Pizzeria Piccola fundraiser, so I was kind of freaking out. Then on the way to the fundraiser, I got a call that my Grandpa passed away. My heart broke for my dad.

Minutes after I get off the phone with my mom I get a call from an unfamiliar number. So, I answer. It's Patti from BBR. She had heard from Kathy of BBR (who I had e-mailed this weekend) that I would be at the Petco BBR event on Sunday. She starts asking about what kind of dog we want and whether we have any other pets. We're parked and heading into dinner at 10 minutes til close at this point. So I'm half listening, being confused, trying to ask if I can call her back. We're walking upstairs now, and I'm still on the phone with Patti. A group of people at a table start laughing and Patti's like "Is this a bad time?". I tell her we just got to dinner and can I call her back. She says she will call me Wednesday night (tonight) or Thursday. So right before we get off the phone, she drops the bomb. "If you find a dog on Sunday, you can sign the adoption papers. You've been approved." WHHHHHHHHAT?!?!?! It's been 2 weeks, I was expecting more time to pass before we were approved. So now I'm like freaking out.

So we sit down, and the group of women who are upstairs ask us what dogs we are looking at. Steve tells them Duke and Dee. And one women goes "Would you like to meet Duke's foster mom?"  So we go over and talk to her. She actually lives a few minutes away from the pizza place. She tells us that Duke is a big love and a cuddle bug. She says he's great with stairs....yay! He will be Velcro-ed to our sides. So I'm just like, how much more crazy and insane can things get right now?!

Of course this now means Steve and I have to have the talk about the dog. So after a great dinner and drinks with Kaitlyn and James, we head home. And we talk about whether we could get a dog now or wait until February to get one. It's crazy! Steve said that there is no reason that we can't pick up all the dog supplies we will need this weekend and begin getting ready. He said that it doesn't matter when we get the dog, now or after our trip, as long as we feel prepared. So there is a real possibility that we might be getting our dog soon. It feels crazy! Great, but crazy.

I'll post more details once I hear back from Patti. =)
(I know this is a way crazy scatter brained post, but this is just kind of how my brain is functioning right now. Blame it on finals and everything else that's going on!)

Step 1

We're looking at adopting a dog in February, after we get back from our week long cruise. So our first step was beginning the process. We're starting it now, because we know it's going to take a while to get our adoption application in, interviewed, visited, and actually meet dogs. Because of Steve's work schedule we knew that it might be difficult to schedule things, so we wanted to get a head start. Especially because I would really like to get a dog right when we get back from vacation. (Of course anyone who knows me knows that I would adopt in a heartbeat!! And when I say that, I mean like tomorrow. This being said, I have to try and be good for Steve's sake. Let's hope I can wait til February.)

This of course means that we've taken our first step in getting a sweet little senior. Last Tuesday Steve and I actually filled out the BBR Adoption Application!! It took months of research, compromising, and serious thinking to get here, but I couldn't be more excited. =) Of course this means that I am seriously stalking my e-mail. =P

Briar and Belfie

 When I was 10, my parents and I got our first dog as a family, Briar. She was a spunky little Rottweiler and probably the baddest little Devil ever. Briar ruined me as far as puppies are concerned. She was absolutely wild!! She loved to play and torture us, as she thought our socks were her toys and would run after us to bite and chew on our feet. Even though she was a terrible little puppy, we grew to love our girl. She loved to play and was always running through the house and our backyard chasing after toys. She loved knotted up socks (her "babies"), her kong ball, and anything else she could get her little teeth into. She had the funniest little personality and was always making us laugh. We called her Snoopy cause she was always being nosey and had to know what everything was doing.

We got Belfie a few months after we got Briar. To say that he was Briar's opposite could not be farther from the truth. As a puppy he was the sweetest little fluffball, except for when he didn't make it to the bathroom and peed on my bed the first few nights he slept with me. Belfie was our chubby little love bug, but boy was he a grumbler. Our big guy was like a giant teddy bear. He was sweet and wanted everyone's love, on his terms of course. He was a grumbler and loved to talk. He would play like a big puppy and even though he was so huge, he loved to be treated like a small fragile dog. You had to be so gentle with him and man did he love it. The minute I would come home, he would run straight for me and go right through my legs and wait for me to scratch his back end.

We had Briar and Belfie for 14 years and this May we had to put our Belfie down when he got really sick. Briar was not herself after Belfie was gone and her sadness filled my parent's house for 6 month and 5 days. We put Briar down 2 weeks ago. She was having an awful time getting around and she was ready to be with Belfie. At least now they are together somewhere over that big rainbow bridge in the sky running, playing, and I'm sure terrorizing anyone they can. Although they're gone, I will think of them and miss them every day until I am lucky enough to see them again.

Briar and Belfie have been my siblings for the past 14 years out of the 24 years of my life. We have had a lot of great times together, some bad, and some sad too but I have cherished every moment with them. Since I was so fortunate to grow up in a family with my loving little companions, I have always known that I would want to get a dog some day. I know Briar and Belfie would want me to have a companion to give my love to and give a second chance to, so as much as my rescue will be for me and the rescue dog, it will also be in loving memory of my Briar and Belfie.