Hi all, I am new to the forum!
My husband and I have two cats and two dogs. Our beagle died last year at the age of 16, which was expected but still very sad for us. Our yorkie, 7 years at the time, was best friends with our beagle Lucky and after Lucky died our yorkie stopped eating and lost interest in his normal activities. We were all grieving and after years of caring for an elderly, diabetic and blind dog, I was exhausted and ready to be a one dog household. But a couple months passed and while we made sure to keep socializing our little yorkie, Monty, he remained sad and barely ate.
We were at a 5k event (with yorkie in tow) and our local humane society was there with dogs available for adoption. We noticed a beautiful, calm, tiny pitbull who was watching all the action with boredom. I went over and talked to her handler and kneeled down to get a better look. She immediately licked my face. She had already been at the shelter for 3 months and no one had been able to adopt her - a few tried but there were pitbull restrictions in their counties. Well our county is very rural and has no breed restriction laws so we weren't worried about that. My husband and I went home and agreed if she still wasn't adopted within a week we'd look into the adoption process. I was honest about not being ready for a new dog, but we felt like Monty was missing dog companionship. We returned to the shelter to meet Harmony (the pitbull) again and were somewhat surprised to find her bouncing off the walls. She paid little attention to us, which was fine, but she seemed extremely energetic. Was this the same dog? We brought Monty later in the day to meet her and Harmony wanted to play with him but he was very anxious. The shelter advised us that Harmony was probably not a good fit for Monty and told us to sleep on it. We did but much like the terriers we loved, we are incredibly stubborn, and our minds were already made up - we would do what we needed to do to exercise Harmony, socialize her, and make it work.
We were happy to take her home to her new bed, crate, toys, and household. Our cats remained out of sight for a while and we slowly made introductions. We worked on exercising Harmony - who had spent so long in a small shelter kennel that her paw pads were still pink and uncalloused! We also hired a trainer who came to our house. Harmony hated walking and running and tired easily outside; she was also fearful of trucks and loud noises. She began pulling on her leash and refused to walk anywhere; for a few months I seriously regretted our decision. Without exercise she went crazy in the house. Mental stimulation - puzzles and obedience training did not tire her out and she chewed up numerous pieces of furniture. Crating her was okay but she cried at night. She got along fine with Monty and the cats so that was a relief. Luckily she now loves walking, hiking, playing, swimming, and chasing a lure, so that problem has gone away but of course she still has some anxieties. Slowly she's gotten better about a lot of things, we've gotten better, but it's been a roller coaster of an experience and we are still on the ride!
My husband and I have two cats and two dogs. Our beagle died last year at the age of 16, which was expected but still very sad for us. Our yorkie, 7 years at the time, was best friends with our beagle Lucky and after Lucky died our yorkie stopped eating and lost interest in his normal activities. We were all grieving and after years of caring for an elderly, diabetic and blind dog, I was exhausted and ready to be a one dog household. But a couple months passed and while we made sure to keep socializing our little yorkie, Monty, he remained sad and barely ate.
We were at a 5k event (with yorkie in tow) and our local humane society was there with dogs available for adoption. We noticed a beautiful, calm, tiny pitbull who was watching all the action with boredom. I went over and talked to her handler and kneeled down to get a better look. She immediately licked my face. She had already been at the shelter for 3 months and no one had been able to adopt her - a few tried but there were pitbull restrictions in their counties. Well our county is very rural and has no breed restriction laws so we weren't worried about that. My husband and I went home and agreed if she still wasn't adopted within a week we'd look into the adoption process. I was honest about not being ready for a new dog, but we felt like Monty was missing dog companionship. We returned to the shelter to meet Harmony (the pitbull) again and were somewhat surprised to find her bouncing off the walls. She paid little attention to us, which was fine, but she seemed extremely energetic. Was this the same dog? We brought Monty later in the day to meet her and Harmony wanted to play with him but he was very anxious. The shelter advised us that Harmony was probably not a good fit for Monty and told us to sleep on it. We did but much like the terriers we loved, we are incredibly stubborn, and our minds were already made up - we would do what we needed to do to exercise Harmony, socialize her, and make it work.
We were happy to take her home to her new bed, crate, toys, and household. Our cats remained out of sight for a while and we slowly made introductions. We worked on exercising Harmony - who had spent so long in a small shelter kennel that her paw pads were still pink and uncalloused! We also hired a trainer who came to our house. Harmony hated walking and running and tired easily outside; she was also fearful of trucks and loud noises. She began pulling on her leash and refused to walk anywhere; for a few months I seriously regretted our decision. Without exercise she went crazy in the house. Mental stimulation - puzzles and obedience training did not tire her out and she chewed up numerous pieces of furniture. Crating her was okay but she cried at night. She got along fine with Monty and the cats so that was a relief. Luckily she now loves walking, hiking, playing, swimming, and chasing a lure, so that problem has gone away but of course she still has some anxieties. Slowly she's gotten better about a lot of things, we've gotten better, but it's been a roller coaster of an experience and we are still on the ride!
One pit in the family! Intro!
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