Wednesday, August 25, 2010

What's her name

This is our newly adopted dog (not a foster but a keeper). She was a stray that someone took to a local shelter. Nobody came to claim her and she was up for adoption. I'm not quite sure why I decided to adopt, as it goes against my experiences and my own belief that one should get to know a dog before agreeing to live with them. That's why I was fostering in the first place. In spite of my own best judgement I moved ahead with adoption. We did meet Monica (the name the shelter gave her) once in a park. We asked Ben, Laura and Abi to come too as we wanted to see how she would do with everyone. She did fine but was more interested in the park than us. Is this good reason to adopt? No, but still I forged ahead. We agreed to take her but asked if her foster home would keep her an additional week while we went on vacation. They graciously agreed. It was actually a good time for her to recuperate from being spayed.

It's been a week since we brought her home. She moped around all week-end, piddled in the house 3 times, jumped on the bed and furniture and growled when we scolded her. I began to think I had made an awful mistake. Her only redeeming point was that she was gentle with Abi and didn't mind at all when Abi gave her a hug. Even so, I was ready to take her back. It was Larry who encouraged me to give her some time (the tables were turned from our normal "who has more patience" roles).

I'm glad we waited as she has improved immensely. No more "accidents" in the house, no more growling, very few furniture violations. She really is trying to please and she's does love to snuggle. I'm actually beginning to like her very much.

Larry has built a doggy yard so she can be outside some during the day (though she seems to bark constantly when outside). She isn't fond at all of the crate (yet).

Her foster home thought she was a PBGV (Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen) so we thought we'd call her Phoebe. But now, after consulting some PBGV owners we've decided she's just a terrier mix - maybe some Llaso Apso and Schnauzer and who knows what all else. Now we're rethinking her name and haven't decided anything. Thumper is a possibility as she thumps her tail rather soundly when wagging. That's just one idea. Abi pronounces Phoebe as Reebee. Maybe that's what we'll call her. Who knows what will stick.

2 comments:

  1. Laura8:26 AM

    Instead of referring to your place as grandma & grandpa's house, your granddaughter now calls your place Reebee's house. She's been talking about her every day since we saw her last weekend, and got really excited when I showed her the picture of her you have posted.

    I'm glad you decided to like her. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. whatever you call her, she is cute as a button. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete