Heeeere's Shadow!

So here's the dog. I've never had a dog before. My husband grew up with a Sheltie. Elijah and I are allergic but I've been symptom free since I was dating a guy years ago who had 3 terriers. Neal and I did have 7 ferrets so that puts us on the exotic animal list. My friends' reactions? One called me an asshole and another asked if I was drugged. Hmmm, what do you think they really mean by that?

This dog is very, very sweet. Neal picked him up from the family and met Elijah and me at PetSmart. Ben and a friend were at a basketball tournament. The dog smelled of vomit. He threw up on himself in the morning and I guess his previous owner didn't do such a great job of cleaning him up. Good thing the groomer allowed him to come in earlier. Then the three humans spent a good hour and a good amount of money getting a collar, a leash, food, treats, poop bags, an ID tag, etc. We took Elijah to grab something to eat because he had to be at his basketball game at 7:40. He couldn't wait to get back to the store to see the dog. And there he was! He looked so pretty!

Now the problem was who was going to take the dog home and who was going to the game. Of course Elijah wanted Neal to be at the game so guess who took him home? Yup, me. I was a little tense but I figured I took two babies home from the hospital that a dog has to be a lot easier. He laid on the seat behind me and when we pulled into the driveway, he perked up a bit. I immediately took him for a walk to make sure there wouldn't be any accidents in the house. He seemed to enjoy himself but he doesn't lift his leg. What could that mean? I'll have to google that one. Then I took him and the packages into the house and hoped for the best. I gave him a bit of food and water and one of his new toys. He seemed pretty happy. He went around sniffing every nook and cranny and then settled down in the den with me.

Elijah came home and couldn't wait to hang with Shadow. The dog's tail wagged when he saw him walk in. However, every time I passed by, the dog would follow me; it was as if he patterned himself onto me the way a duckling does to the mother duck. About an hour later Elijah and I walked him and then Ben and his friend took him out around 11:00. I was so ready to sleep. The boys came back and he put Shadow in his crate. We said goodnight to him and I think I crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. We didn't hear a peep out of him. In fact, I haven't heard him bark at all.

This morning Neal took Elijah to Hebrew school. First he took Shadow for a walk. Then about an hour later I took him. We had a very long walk. This dog has gotten me out to walk 3 times in about 18 hours! Amazing. My cardiologist will be pleased. I sat down to pay bills at the computer and Shadow put his paws on my lap. I picked him up and he snuggled against my head. I guess he was having some anxiety. I could understand that. What we discovered is that this dog loves socks...just like the ferrets! So we have to make sure the laundry gets put away and Elijah, especially, puts his socks away since he takes them off all over the house.

When Neal got home I told him that I'm ready for the dog to go home now. Whoops! I forgot. He's ours.

Stay tuned for more Shadow adventures. Tomorrow will be the true test of how he does when we all go to work and school!