Well, we did it. We are the official owners of a second dog, adopted from the animal shelter here on Tuesday, neutered and then straight to our house on Wednesday. We had a long list of names we were thinking about--Chewie, Rex, Tex, Chip, Jett, and Samson, for starters. Samson won in the end, mainly because I couldn't resist Rhiannon and Wade's puppy dog eyes!
This morning I was out taking both dogs for a walk and had to laugh at the drivers swiveling in their cars to check out the odd pair. You've got Oscar, a lean, mean machine, tall and white, and then you've got Samson with his cone of shame, 5-10 pounds overweight, short and black. Or maybe people were just laughing at the short little woman out trying to walk them at the same time!
I have slept on the couch the last three nights to be near the dogs downstairs. Oscar is in his crate, and Samson is in an exercise pen right next to Oscar. Samson can't fit in his crate yet because of the e-collar, and I imagine it's going to take a while for him to be comfortable in the crate. I'm not really excited about bringing crates and dog beds up to our rooms, but I did read that shelter dogs in particular have abandonment issues and can get freaked out at night until they've adjusted and know for sure that you'll always come back. Samson whined a TON the first night. Seems silly, but it makes a lot of sense because when I came home from errands and carpool several times the past few days, Samson was beside himself when I walked in the door, SO EXCITED!
Oscar is doing pretty well with the new addition. He wants to play with Samson so badly, but Samson lets him know when enough is enough. I'm grateful for this, especially since Samson just had surgery! We're trying to establish Oscar as the top dog, feeding him first, not letting Samson into his crate or play with his toys, etc., but sometimes it's a little unclear who the natural top dog is! Oscar gets one-on-one time each day playing fetch, but otherwise we try to give the dogs equal amounts of attention.
Knock on wood, there have been NO accidents, just lots of little surprises and glimpses into Samson's personality and past. I think he's been trained (good on a leash, dances for treats, potty-trained), and it's pretty clear he's been spoiled (overweight, jumps right into your lap when you're on the couch, loves to snuggle). He's scared us a couple times with his jumping feats. He scaled some chairs I had set up as a barrier because he wanted to be RIGHT next to me in the other room, and then the next day he jumped from the top of the couch. I think we're pretty lucky that he didn't open his surgical incision!!!
It'll be great to get Jason home tomorrow night from his high school reunion so that he can experience all the fun we've had with two dogs, ha-ha! So far things are going great! We're all a little in awe. Wade put it best when he said, "I just can't believe that we met this dog for the first time on Saturday and now he's ours!"
