Night Run

A few nights ago Jackie and I took the dogs for a walk before going to bed. As we were walking in the dark, because our apartment complex never replaces light bulbs for the flood lights, a cat was hit by the moon light. At that moment Ruby happened to be looking in that direction and reacted. Jerking my arm,causing me to release the leash, Ruby broke away and bolted to the cat. Being that cat's see better at night than dogs, not the best idea. The cat went straight for the wooded area, also completely dark. A black dog heading for the dark woods at night is not my ideal way to conclude my evening.

But there I was, and my choices were: a) Hope Ruby would come back when called, b)Figure she'd find her way home sooner or later and go back inside, c) Run to the edge of the woods and call for Ruby, d) hall ass after her into the woods. I did not recount the choices I had until the morning after, at that moment there was no choice. Hall ass in there after her. I managed to end up with my leg tangled in what I am now finding out was poison ivy, and get clocked in the head with a branch. As I hit the ground when the ivy nabbed my leg, Ruby turned around and saw me. At that point she saw what had happened, came back to me and rolled over looking to be pet.

I went to bed that night debating how different things would have been if I had gone with any other option, and how happy I was I ran after Ruby... and then I woke up.

I reached for my cell phone to turn my alarm off the morning after the night run. The phone was charging when I went to bed, when I grabbed my cell phone it was unplugged. I looked down, and found the charger, it was shredded not so much as to sever one piece from the rest of the charger cord but certainly enough to render my charger useless.

As soon as I move my head in the morning when my alarm goes off, Ruby is up and ready for action. Running over me, anxious for attention and to go outside. I suppressed my erge to be upset at Ruby and took the dogs outside. Usually Ruby goes within the first 20 seconds we're outside, the perfect dog, but this time she didn't go. Odd, but I didn't mind that there was nothing to pick up that morning. As I started getting ready for work my routine took me to my dresser, around to the other side of the bed, upon turning the corner I figured out why Ruby didn't go outside. She had purged her body of everything she would have done outside.

Naturally I started wondering how worth it running into the woods for Ruby actually was. I grabbed Ruby to show it to her and tell her "no" as any potty training book tells you to do. Ruby got scared, and like bread crumbs to find her way back she peed every 2 feet as I dragged Ruby to her mess. A new level of questioning my decision had started sinking in as I cleaned up all the mess.

Week 3 Highlights

One day this week while we were walking Ruby Jackie and I caught a glimpse of how fast Ruby actually is. As we were rounding the corner of our apartment building we passed shrubbery that was housing some birds. Most took off high, avoiding all confrontation. But there were a few that thought it best to tempt Ruby. Not smart. Before I realized birds where flying low out of the bush, one disappeared. The only evidence a bird had flown out of the bush was a wing hanging out the right side of Ruby's mouth. After it registered with Ruby that she had actually caught something, she opened her mouth and the bird flew away. Since that day I have not seen any birds in the shrubbery. Though Ruby has become much more eager to try and catch other wildlife. She will try to run up trees to get to squirrels, but has yet to get even close to anything other than the bird that got away.

This weekend we took Ruby to a local dog park. Ruby was my shadow, I spent most of my time there trying to talk away from Ruby, as she slithered behind me, staying close. There was a brief glimpse of a happy dog. Ruby found another dog she wasn't scared of and started trying to play, stamping her front feet while wagging her tail and sticking high in the air. The other dog started chasing Ruby. Ruby ran, tried to shake the other dog off by changing direction quickly to the left, and the right. Within a minute, Ruby had every other dog in the park chasing after her. Finally I got the chance to see how fast Ruby could run, she opened up and bolted across the park at top speed, the other dogs were dragging behind as Ruby stepped on the gas and flew away from the pack. Once she saw how many dogs were chasing her, she stopped running, found me, and went back to my shadow. But for a brief moment I had the opportunity to see Ruby the way she truly is, free of fear.

Shit Storm 2010

Today was interesting.

On the up-side, Ruby was extremely happy to see both Jackie and I when we got home. She was so worked up I had a very difficult time putting her leash on her and Zoey for their walks. Leashing Ruby was nothing compared to trying to leash a dog a quarter the size of Ruby and having Ruby shoving her body at your face to play.

We went to the vet today, Ruby weighed in at 35lbs, she gained about 5lbs in 13 days! Wehn we got home, we cleaned up in the shower. Upon exiting the shower a foul smell of shit circulated around the apartment, we looked all around Zoey's crate, as she did not come to the vet and was in her crate for the past hour and a half. Our search ended by the front door.
All the extra weight was forced out of her body and into Jackie's shoe in the form of a massive Lab poop.

Down Side to today:
Ruby and Zoey both shit while we were showering. Ruby shit in Jackie's shoes. How is that even possible?

On a morbid up-side to this, Ruby got the message that we were upset with her. I don't think she understood what she did or why we were upset with her, but it was clear she was scared. On the walk immediately following our discovery, Ruby glued to me as we walked, I tried to keep her away from me to drive the point home. Jackie was waiting at the door for us as we turned to the back of our building, Ruby sank down and laid on the ground, we couldn't get her to move forward and get into the apartment. She was stuck to the ground, afraid to get up. I feel bad for shunning her as we did, however taking a dump in the apartment is unacceptable. Hopefully she learns her lesson.

Week 2 In Review

Ruby has been eating a 13oz can of wet food every morning, and 1.5 cups of Nutro kibble with a pouch of Mixables in the evening every day. We have been keeping Zoey in her crate when it is feeding time, the only way to keep her distracted is by using some of the Mixables on her food. Zoey picks out the pieces that don't have Mixables on them and throws them out of the bowl. Ruby has started cleaning up after Zoey by eating the pieces that fall out of Zoey's crate. We go to the vet tomorrow for a follow-up with Ruby, our hope is that she has gained at least 5lbs.

Ruby wants nothing more than to play with Jackie and I when we get home from work. There are two sides to this, first Ruby is settled in enough to know that we're coming home which is great! At the same time, I'm not used to having to gear up to come home from work. Normally home time is my time to relax and I find that I am not able to relax as much as I would like. Ruby looks for any excuse to play or cuddle with us. Jackie came home from work one day this week and took a nap, Ruby laid in bed with Jackie while she slept. Ruby just enjoys having us around. Along the same lines, Ruby has been trying so hard to play with Zoey and Jack, our ferret. Ruby will paw at Zoey or the pillow/blanket Zoey is laying on, anything to try and get Zoey to play. If Zoey acknowledges her at all it normally results in her rolling over onto her back and letting Ruby sniff her. We are finding that Ruby and Zoey are laying next to each other much more frequently as Zoey becomes more comfortable with Ruby. Jack provides Ruby much more interaction. Ruby has a great time chasing Jack around, but it is clear Ruby has no idea what Jack is or how to deal with it.

Some dogs can sense when people aren't feeling well. Ruby is not one of those dogs. She looks for the same amount of attention and love that she does every day. Both Jackie and I have been sick this week, and it has not affected Ruby's behavior at all. In fact, I have found that Ruby shoves herself at us more when we don't move as much. It's either give her all your energy with playing, or all your attention when you're sitting.

Ruby will sit and lay down on command, which is amazing. She is also good when it comes to understanding direction, no means no. If we tell Ruby no, or down if she's jumping up on us, Ruby immediately listens to us. This is so much better than Zoey, who we need to tell several times to stop, specifically when it comes to wanting human food and attention.

I vacuumed this week. Ruby was definitely interested in what was causing all the noise. Though all she would do is stick her head around corners to sneak a peak at the vacuum, but when I got close to her she ran away.

Friday morning at 3:45am Jackie and I woke up to Ruby making some horrible noise. I was told to take care of it since Jackie had to wake up in an hour. All I could do was open the door to give Ruby some water, of course she didn't drink any water, she just wanted to play. Ruby is very much a puppy. We never really figured out what was wrong with Ruby, it sounded like she wanted to throw-up but she thankfully did not.

Most interesting thing that has happened with Ruby this week:
She caught a bird while we were walking her this weekend. It happened so quickly I did not know what was going on, I needed Jackie to help fill me in on the whole story. We were walking the dogs Ruby got close to a bush, and several birds flew out low from the bush and somehow Ruby had ridiculous reflexes and caught a bird in her mouth. All I saw was us walking the dogs, then Ruby sitting there with a wing sticking out of her mouth. We told Ruby to drop it and she opened her mouth, allowing the bird to fly away. Good thing that Ruby listens to our instruction. But this just shows you how much Ruby is changing and how much we are learning about her. And I am sure there is much more to learn.

Aint Nothin But a Hound Dog

Woke up to a pile of crap that could only belong to Ruby. I did what the books all tell you to do, grabbed Ruby, stuck her face in it and said NO several times. Maybe it was because she was only half awake, but it was as if Ruby didn't care at all. My yelling and shoving her face in her mess did nothing to her. Normally a dog would be afraid or scared, Ruby just sat there and took it.

Before heading to work I gave Ruby half a can of wet food, she ate it all. It's good that she's beginning to eat, I am becoming impatient for Ruby to gain weight and fill out.

Jackie and I were wondering how week two would go since Ruby got a taste of us being around for the whole weekend. When I came home I got my answer. She could barely contain herself. As I was trying to take down the gate she was pushing as well, trying to get to me. She wanted to play, but I always try to take the dogs out before anything else. While we were outside Ruby kept jumping up on me and howling with excitement. *As a side note, the shelter labeled Ruby as a mix of a Lab and a German Shepard. I never believed the Shepard, but with all this howling and whining I think she is mixed with a hound dog* The whole walk Ruby was nothing but thrilled to see me. It was nice to come home to a kitchen that hadn't been destroyed by a distraught dog. It was even better that the dog was so eager to see me that she was pushing her way through the gate.

After the walk and a decent amount of play time, I tried feeding Ruby. 1/2 cup of Nutro kibble and 1/2 a pouch of Mixables. Ruby ate everything that had Mixable gravy on it, she left the rest. As did Zoey when I gave her a chance to eat the left overs. Either way, I did not have to stick my hands in dog food which was a wonderful change of pace.

I wanted to try something today. Ruby was sitting at my feet, Zoey and I on the couch. I began petting Zoey to see how Ruby would respond. As soon as Zoey started grunting (like she always does when someone pets her) Ruby's ears perked up. She jumped on the couch and practically laid on Zoey. It was not until I stopped petting her that Zoey snaked her way out from under Ruby. Zoey fell to the floor where Ruby had been sitting. Clearly Zoey hasn't accepted Ruby as a cuddle-buddy, much in the same way that Ruby hasn't figured out how to share the attention.

Jackie and I have trained Zoey to wait on the couch for attention whenever we got home, making it easier for us to get settled and then say hello to Zoe. Ruby hasn't caught on to this yet and I don't know if she will. Most entertaining was Jackie and Zoe playing when she got home. Zoey runs from one side of the apartment to the other as Jackie eggs her on. With Ruby here things are the same, but Zoe is followed closely by Ruby when she runs all over the apartment. Ruby has not yet figured out how to engage in play, but it is cute to watch Ruby try to involve herself in Jackie and Zoey's playtime.

Today Zoey and Ruby played together, however short it was. Zoey has neither the stamina or the stride that Ruby has, so "playing" was more like Zoey going insane running through the apartment while Ruby trotted after her. Reminiscent of any first sexual experience, it began just as quickly and abruptly as it ended, Zoey was exhausted while Ruby was left wanting more.

Dinner was the same as her snack when I got home, 1/2 cup of Nutro and the rest of the Mixables pouch. Five minutes after Ruby was finished eating, she found the rest of Zoey's food, and ate it, out of a bowl! We have been feeding Ruby off of a plate recently, but this is a huge step. Ruby wanted more food than we gave her, and took it from Zoey's food bowl.

Week 1 In Review

This weekend was different in many ways from last weekend, and the past 11 months of Jackie and I living together. This marks the end of the first week with Ruby living in our apartment, and as part of our family. Last weekend was crazy, adjusting to a new dog in the apartment was a challenge. But in this week we have changed and adjusted to better the life of Ruby, our new Lab mix.

Before this week I never thought I would sit next to a dog to help them eat, or scoop food out of a dog bowl and feed a dog from my hand. When Ruby came home she was hesitant to eat any food, both Saturday and Sunday this weekend Ruby ate 1.5 cups of dry Nutro and Mixables. We microwaved the batches of food (half a cup per feeding) and fed Ruby around noon, 5pm and 9pm both days, we also tried feeding wet food first thing in the morning, but Ruby was not interested. Either way, the amount of food Ruby is eating now versus when she first came home shows just one of the changes Ruby has made since coming home.

Along with eating more, Ruby has become much more playful. Her tail is always wagging now, eager for someone to play with her. She has tried several times to get Zoey to play with her, but Zoey has yet to warm up to the idea. I have wrestled with Ruby the past couple of days, falling on Ruby and having her crawl out from under me, her tail wags the entire time. One thing that hasn't changed is Ruby whining, in fact she has gotten much more vocal with her whining since bringing her home. The more we play with her the more she whines for attention.

Having two dogs at once proved to be more difficult than we anticipated. The constant tangling of leashes when we're walking them and giving both equal amounts of attention while realizing that maybe they both require different amounts of one on one focus were two of our bigger problems to overcome. Ruby has trouble walking in a straight line, she enjoys stumbling from the left all the way to the right and back again. This normally ends up getting her leash very tangled with Zoey's. We're working on keeping Ruby on one side of us, so it's not such a challenge to walk the dogs. We have been challenged to make sure Zoey does not feel like an outcast now that a new dog is home. Zoey has always been a bit stand off-ish, keeping to herself from time to time. Jackie and I are trying to feel our way through when she wants to just be left alone, and when she's feeling left out.

Ruby is the first dog over 10lbs. that I've owned, and as the week has progressed I have been noticing many differences between the tiny dogs I am used to and Ruby. On a basic level, a larger dog takes up more space. Snuggling with Ruby is not as easy as it is with Zoey, Jackie and I have not been able to sit next to each other since Ruby came home due to her taking up the whole middle of the couch. We've started moving her as we become more comfortable with her not feeling rejected, but I think we are still working towards set positions for the animals and us on the furniture. When the vomit storm hit, other aspects of large dog ownership came to light. Sneezes with a little dog is a light mist that you may or may not feel. When Ruby sneezes it looks like water balloons have exploded on the blanket, it's the difference between a shot and a fifth of vodka, all over the blanket or clothing or whatever Ruby happens to be around at the time. Same issues with the amount of vomit, it was much more than I could have anticipated. Another item that I hadn't considered until after bringing Ruby home, everything is bigger with a bigger dog. Bathroom time is a hand-full, rather than a drop.

More to the point of this blog, the first week of dog ownership has been much more difficult with adoption that it would have been with a new puppy. With a puppy, they come home and usually are very trusting and happy to be with you right away. Adoption dogs have a history, a past that affects their perception of the world, with some things this is for the better like when a dog comes home house trained. Other times, like with Ruby, her past caused her to close herself off from the world and trusting others. In this first week we have worked towards building trust between Ruby and us while also trying to rebuild trust for people in general.

Overall adopting Ruby has been one of the larger personal challenges I have faced in my life. All week I was being woken up by Ruby in the middle of the night and having my patience tested with her eating habits. Through all of the challenges of this week, it has been a very rewarding first week. To see Ruby willing to eat without scooping food into her mouth is amazing on its own but to see her interested in playing with Jackie and I as well as the other animals in the apartment is wonderful. A week ago, if I were to have wrestled with Ruby she would have been scared and ran away from me, now her tail doesn't stop wagging and enjoys our time together. There is still a long way to go for Ruby to be a well adjusted dog, but knowing what she has been through and where she is now, I am positive the best is yet to come.

Eat! Eat! Eat!

Another night of everyone sleeping in the bed, everyone slept through the night. Once Ruby saw that I was awake in the morning she started whining for attention. All I did was pick up my head to check the time, but Ruby saw it. I started snuggling and petting Ruby hoping she would go back to bed, all the did was whine for attention. The funny part was, the more attention I gave, the louder the whining became.

Before going to work I was able to get Ruby to eat about 8oz of wet food off of a plate, though I had to hand feed about half of that to her. Either way, it's the first morning meal she's eaten since coming home with us.

Today also marked the second time I heard Ruby bark. Our neighbor's dog came waltzing up to our window. Zoey let out a few barks, followed quickly by Ruby, and Ruby did not stop barking for a minute or two. The barking was louder than last time, of course, being inside only made things seem louder.

For dinner Jackie fed Ruby kibble with water and wet food. Ruby ate 2/3 cup dry food with 1/4 can wet food and water. Jackie gave her more but that was all she was willing to eat.

Coming home from work, as soon as my key hit the door both dogs started barking. Zoey was never much of a barker, though with another dog it seems she's getting into it.

We tried feeding Ruby a for a third time today. The late night meal consistent of a can of wet food (13oz), both Jackie and I were shocked Ruby was willing to eat so much food. Zoey was allowed to lick the plate, Zoey stood on the plate so we had a hard time taking it away from her.

Three meals in one day is amazing. Today was definitely the first day that Ruby ate enough to at least maintain her body weight.

All Tucked In

Jackie tucking Ruby in for bed.

Getting Ruby to slept at the foot of the bed all night, on a vomit protector blanket and under a blanket to keep her from shaking all night, was a moderate success. She stayed at the foot of the bed, but did not stay under the blanket. Once Jackie woke up and left for work all bets were off and next thing I knew I was snuggling with Ruby. I woke up spooning with Ruby.

My work schedule was weird today allowing me to come home for a few hours in the middle of the day. Ruby and Zoey were both very excited I was home. Getting home, I laid down on the floor, both Ruby and Zoey were jumping on me for attention. It was great to have dogs crawling on me for attention. Ruby's tail was going like crazy. As I slowly backed away from Ruby, she would crawl towards me wagging her tail. She is getting better about playing, and wanting to play.

While I was taking a nap and watching TV during my break from work Ruby and Zoey were both laying with me on the couch. As I was petting them, Ruby started licking Zoey. Very cute, but after the fact I began to worry that if Zoey had not caught Kennel Cough from Ruby yet, she probably did today.

Jackie able to hand feed Ruby slightly over 1 cup of Nutro with Wet food and chicken water. We're starting to worry, we try multiple times to feed Ruby, however we only get 1 meal in a day. The amount of food she's eating isn't even enough to sustain her declining body weight. We are going to try putting her food on a plate next meal time, because she'll eat out of our hands but is hesitant to go anywhere near the food bowl.

Late night meal was unsuccessful from a bowl. Tried from a plate and she immediately started eating. She ate the wet food cold and hot, but would not eat any when it was mixed with dry Nutro.

When Jackie went to sleep she tucked Ruby in, on a blanket and under a blanket, to keep her warm and away from us in case of vomiting. About 10 minutes after she went to bed, Jackie called me from the bedroom asking for medicine because she didn't want to disturb the dog she had just tucked in. We are already catering to this dog way more than I had ever thought I would. All I can do to comfort myself is keep saying it's not because we want to (even though we kind of do) it's because we have to, especially with the feeding situation.

Hand-fed Dog, Well Socialized?

Woke up at 2am to Jackie trying to reposition Ruby to be more on a blanket in case she threw up. I have no idea why we're always waking up around 2am for these things. It's kind of weird, maybe Ruby has a clock set in her and everything happens at that time. Or it's right in the middle of the night and she just wants to make sure we're still alive.

Before leaving for the day, in an attempt to fatten Ruby up I gave her 1/2 cup of Nutro and 1/4 can of wet food. When I came home she had eaten 1/3 of the wet food and virtually none of the dry food. How can we fatten this dog up? She keeps losing weight and does not want to eat. On the brighter side of things, there was no vomit when I came home from work. So at least what little food Ruby is eating is staying down.

Dinner was a cup of Nutro and a chicken breast covered in chicken water. Ruby was hesitant to eat even the chicken breast, though she did eat the whole chicken eventually the kibble remained untouched for the most part. I was able to hand feed Ruby the Nutro Kibble. That's correct, I scooped food out of the bowl, with my hand, and put it up to Ruby's mouth at which point she ate it out of my palm (I realize the picture of Jackie hand feeding Ruby, it's the only picture of this happening that I have). I was able to get her to eat 2/3 cup of Nurto food soaked in the water we boiled the chicken breast in. Ironically, birds that are hand-fed are sought after for their socialization, while dogs that are hand-fed are annoying because they lack socialization. Other than the obvious question of, why is the only way to get this dog to eat is by hand feeding it, our wallets are beginning to wonder at what point should we stop feeding Ruby chicken? When am I going to stop taking so much pity on this dog and end the hand-feeding stage?

Before going to bed we took the dogs for the final walk of the night. As we circled the apartment building. Ruby perked up, seeing someone else about 50 yards away walking their dog and barked for the first time. When we shushed her she started barking under her breath, muted barks. Not sure how I feel about this because she barks loud for a skinny dog. Quiet is good but it was nice to hear her vocalize for once. She's slowly coming out of her shell.

Vomit Storm 2010

2am, woke up to Ruby coughing. Might be kennel cough, or the ridiculous amount of food she ate the night before.

7am, it's not coughing. Ruby had been throwing up little bits of what I can only assume to be food and bile. In the 4 minutes from when I got out of bed to when the dogs were taken outside Ruby had coughed up this mix of food and bile 4 times. I have no idea how bad this was through the night. I was just thankful that we were going to see the vet later that day and hopefully they would be able to shed some light on this situation.

After days of Zoey trying to ignore Ruby, they laid together in "Zoey's corner" before I headed off to work. Perhaps Zoey knew that Ruby was hurting, so she let it slide.

I came home to vomit all around Ruby's bed in the kitchen. Whole food kibbles soaked in bile on the floor. What's worse, whenever Ruby got excited it only intensified the amount of vomiting. In the minute it took for me to get her outside she threw up all over her bed, and again in the living room before making it outside. She does not throw up outside. I spent all afternoon before the vet doing laundry to try and stay ahead of Ruby's vomit storm. It's times like these when I wish we had a washer/dryer in our apartment.

Vet's annoy me. Jackie knew before going there what the problem was. It took an hour and 2 people to determine the same thing, Ruby more than likely has kennel cough. And just to add to that fun, Zoey probably has it too. Zoey has thrown up several times in the past 4 days since we got Ruby. Granted it's not as bad as what Ruby went through today, but who knows. It took $50 for the vet to pinch Zoey several times, look at her eyes and in her ears and tell us that she may be getting sick in the next week or so, but we'd have to come back and pay for another vet visit once she start throwing up her intestines to get any medication for her. Ruby was weighed in at 30lbs, she'd lost 5lbs since she was given her health evaluation at the shelter about a week ago.

Dinner was 1/3 cup Nutro, Chicken breast and water. The Nutri-Cal we bought to help supplement her vitamins were useless, Ruby won't eat it. Even Zoey doesn't want anything to do with the paste... it has to be bad. Jackie confirmed that it tasted bad, but could not pin-point what it tasted like.

When it was time for me to go to bed, I couldn't go to sleep. Ruby had a hard time settling in, she kept coughing and having trouble breathing, almost a wheezing, with a stuffy nose.

Meeting the Family

When Jackie and I finally made the decision to bring Ruby home I had two thoughts in my head. First, how is this going to work out? Second, how will my family feel about this. While I do not live at home, and have not for a while, both Jackie and I still hold in high esteem everything our parents say and feel. But I knew bringing Ruby home was the right thing to do, as was to tell my family before they heard it from someone else. My dad was happy for us, which was good to hear. What I did not expect was a text from my parents 5 minutes later asking if the family could come visit Ruby. I was thrilled that they were so interested in the new member of the family Jackie and I were creating and invited them over.

As they approached the door to my apartment Ruby was interested in the people passing by, but when they made the turn and opened the door the mood changed. She reverted back to the frightened, helpless dog we met at the adoption center 3 days earlier. She took refuge behind me, cower in fear and urinating. My family got settled in on the couch and floor while Ruby began to slink away into the other room. I went to get her and trying to make her understand everything was okay, she urinated again. Finally I sat on the floor next to Ruby, she came to me looking for assurance everything was okay. I began inching my way towards the family, Ruby followed. As I reached a good spot for everyone to see her I stopped moving, Ruby did not. She crawled into my lap and sat there, fearing the strangers. On a positive note, at least Ruby was allowing my family to pat her without going to the bathroom on me. As I was talking with my family I was concerned that maybe Ruby had permanently reverted back to the way she was at the adoption center. Ten minutes later, Jackie got home from work.

Immediately Ruby jumped out of my lap and trotted over to Jackie. Tail furiously wagging, she would not allow Jackie to put her things down, Ruby wanted attention NOW. She had both front paws up on Jackie's chest looking for all the attention Jackie had to offer. I enjoyed watching this for several reasons. First, I was able to feel the lower half of my body again. It let my family see Ruby the way Jackie and I do, not the scared puppy but as a very loving dog. This also assured me that Ruby was just extremely cautious around people she was unfamiliar with but most importantly she was still the same Ruby Jackie and I were working towards bringing out. Once Ruby had settled down from Jackie's entrance she became slightly more comfortable with my family petting her and being near her. As of now I feel it might be best to wait a while before trying to introduce too many more people to Ruby, however in a few weeks I will be trying to get her as comfortable meeting new people as I can. I believe in the bubble system, start at the center (or in this case, the dog) and slowly expand the bubble to include more, without popping it.

Dinner on day 3 was the best yet! We were able to get Ruby to eat 1 cup of Nutro, 7oz of canned food and a chicken breast. Thanks to a wonderful suggestion from my mother, the water that the chicken was boiled in was poured over all her food and everything was mixed together. She ate it all! It was more licking the food than biting it, but she got it down.

Rude Awakening

Today started at 2:50am when shrills of whining traveled through the apartment and pierced through the bedroom door. Bolting up, not know what was going on, I raced toward the kitchen. When I opened the bedroom door I found Ruby with both front legs over the gate trying to catch a glimpse of where everyone else was hanging out. Still unsure if that was all the whining was about, I opened the gate to investigate. Normally I would jump over the gate but at 3am that idea didn't pass through my brain. Once the gate was open, before I knew what had happened, Ruby made a B line to the bedroom and ran to the far side of the bed where Jackie was (now awake).

Before last night the bedroom was somewhere Ruby had not been, and we weren't planning on letting her go. It was Zoey's sanctuary from the new member of the family. Zoey was used to getting kicked around by us through the night as she always found a comfy spot on or next to our feet, but this was different. When Zoey saw Ruby running to Jackie's side of the bed she began to growl. Zoey is a 7lb Chihuahua that is attempting to defend her sanctuary against a lonely, attention starved 35lb dog. Ruby managed to jump onto the bed, miraculously not ripping her stitches from the spay surgery. At this point she did not lay down and go to sleep like we had hoped. She was vigorously wagging her tail, hitting both Jackie and I in the face. Jackie worked hard to force Ruby to lay down, which she eventually achieved, but not until she was on our pillows. Ruby was laying sideways on a Queen bed, forcing Jackie and I to hug the edges of the bed. Zoey found refuge between the edge of the bed and myself, though when I woke up she had worked her way under the blankets back to her normal spot at our feet. It was an adjustment night for everyone. I was able to go back to sleep sandwiched between 40 lbs of dog, but it took Jackie 1 difficult repositioning of Ruby (making her sleep longways) and about 30 minutes to settle back in.

At this point I am wondering how Ruby will do with both of us being gone for work. I am hoping since she saw us leave she will understand no one is there to hear her whines. If I am being naive, I do not know but only time will tell.

Day 2

We decided that a crate would only enforce the feeling of being cold and alone like at the shelter, so the first night we bought gates and had her sleep in the kitchen. When we came out of the bedroom in the morning we were met with a wet nose sticking through the gaps in the gate. Today we began to see her true personality. As it turns out, Ruby is a cuddle bug, a 35lb lap dog. Jackie and I did our best to not move once she was comfortable, or course that much weight on your legs for a long period of time begins to take it's toll. When we would get up Ruby would either follow us or stay where she was and whine until we came back, tail thumping against the couch. This was the hardest when we would need to go to the bathroom or shower, Ruby would stand by the door whining and wait for us to open the door. We were beginning to build a foundation of trust.

One of the hardest, and most surprising things that we have encountered during this whole process is when it came time to feed the dogs. While this blog is based on the assimilation of an adopted dog into a stable environment, this part of the story involves the dog Jackie and I have had for about a year, her name is Zoey.

Zoey, unlike Ruby, if given the chance gorges herself with food. When we got her from a family member she was overweight. Through diet and exercise we helped Zoey to lose those extra pounds. Now back to the story... Somehow Jackie and I never really thought about how dinner time would go for these two dogs, one who eats everything and a virtually non-existent appetite. As soon as the food dish hits the floor Zoey shoves her face into the dish, while Ruby just wags her tail and stares at us. Dinner on night 2 was Mixables (basically a gravy with chunks of meat, making the whole food bowl taste better), 2 cups of Nutro, 1 cup of Science Diet. We had to put the gate up to keep Zoey away from this feast. But that didn't stop her from jumping up and down at the gate trying to get in and eat everything. Out of what is just about a normal size meal for a dog like Ruby she ate most of the Mixables (it's a 3oz package) and maybe 1/4 cup of food. Again tonight, feeling unsure about the amount of food eaten (or not eaten), we boiled another small chicken breast. Once again, the whole breast was eaten within seconds.

Bed time was easier than the first night, as Ruby was following us wherever we went, I simply walked into the kitchen and put the gate up as soon as Ruby crossed the threshold. Right away Ruby found her bed and laid down. She is quickly becoming more than just a dog, she is becoming our dog.

Day 1 Dinner

Dinner time on Day 1 was unlike anything I had ever seen before. One would think that a dog as emaciated as Ruby would be eager to eat however this could not have been farther from the truth. At the shelter, Ruby was on a diet of Science Diet Advanced Fitness Original. According to her feeding charts, she never ate more than half her portion of food. I am not certain if the food quantities distributed were according to portions suggested by Science Diet, but if so this means that Ruby could not have ate more than 1 cup of food per day. Going into this we thought that being in a safe environment would garner interest in the food and Ruby would start gaining weight instantly. We decided to make things as easy as possible we gave Ruby 2 cups of food and 5oz of canned wet food. Ruby looked at the food, back at us, and began walking away. She had no interest in the food. Jackie sat on the kitchen floor encouraging Ruby to eat, no success. After a few minutes, Jackie lifted the food bowl to Ruby's mouth. She sniffed the food but did not eat. Knowing Ruby had not yet eaten today, we did not know what else to do. Finally Jackie took a handful of the wet food and pushed it towards Ruby's mouth. I don't know how Jackie did it, but Ruby ate 3oz of wet food.

Jackie and I could not figure out what we did wrong. Why was Ruby not eating? What could we do to fatten her up?

Finally we caved and did the only thing we could think of, boil some chicken. The chicken breast was eaten before we new it. So for the day a small chicken breast and 3oz of wet food.

The Long Way Home

As Jackie and I went to an animal adoption center, neither of us really expected to walk away with another animal to add to our small, unconventional family. Walking up and down the isles of cages we were immediately drawn to the puppies, the cuter the better. Their energy and attentiveness made it hard to not notice and be drawn to them. We had been down the road of a young dog before. A week prior to this escapade to the center was where this whole thing really started.

The first trip to the center was very interesting. Being an animal person it was very easy to get sucked into trying to adopt "the perfect dog." While it may seem obvious I feel it important to state that there is no such thing as the perfect anything. Everything has it's flaws and finding true love in any aspect of life is about acknowledging the flaws of a person, or in this case animal, and seeing how those flaws help to bring out things in you. During this visit I found a Border Collie mix. What drew me to this dog were the same characteristics that appeal to anyone looking for a new dog; alert, tail wagging and happy to be noticed. Petunia was a beautiful dog and I wanted to get to know her better. It seems that every visit to the center the majority of the people you interact with are volunteers rather than paid staff, which speaks numbers about what the company is all about. I found a volunteer and she took me outside with Petunia, allowing me to get to know her in a 10" x 50" (roughly) outdoor pen. She was spunky, one of the more excitable dogs I had ever seen, not at all the commercialized view of the type of dog you'd find at a adoption center. I wanted her. In order to adopt a dog, there is an interview process to see if your lifestyle fits what the animal needs for their own well-being. The interview lasted about 30 minutes, and at the end I received the stamp of approval for Petunia. I just needed to wait 3 days for her to be spayed. During that time I came to grips with the reality that this energetic dog would not do well in the environment I had to offer, an apartment were everyone works 8 hour days. I then had to make the call to pass on Petunia, which was extremely difficult for me. However both Jackie and I knew it was the right thing to do. We could not support the active lifestyle Petunia the Border Collie would lead. I did not lose heart in finding a dog to help fill the apartment Jackie and I have called home for a year.

Everyone has seen the commercials with pictures of animals who appear sad, and they are always shown through the bars of their cells. Until going to one of these adoption centers it doesn't quite hit you. I always found the videos being shot on the other side of the bars as cheap and manipulative, however it accurately depicts the view you have of these animals. Before all of this, I had never been to an animal adoption facility. The idea had always appealed to me, take home an animal that is in need rather than one that is bred to be sold in a pet store. I am sure most of the dogs we saw during our trips to the adoption center started in stores, but something must have gone wrong. In most cases the dogs were bought in stores, and during this economic downturn relinquished to adoption agencies.

During another trip to the center we looked at all the new puppies that were there. Walking up and down the isles, trying to base a 10 year decision on the looks and behaviors of what we thought would be a good dog. We did what most people would do, if a dog was asleep or looked sickly or beaten down by life, we kept walking. To this day I cannot tell you what drew me to Ruby, she was nothing like the dogs we were looking for, she was extremely shy and scared. A volunteer was passing by and noticed we were looking at her, she acknowledged that Ruby was shy but insisted she had a big heart. When the volunteer entered Ruby's cage, Ruby was hesitant but I could see she was happy to have someone notice her. When the volunteer sat down with Ruby Jackie and I saw how Ruby wanted to be loved and be a dog, but had somehow lost her way. Only the very tip of her tail wagged, it was more of a flick, the rest of her tail was tucked between her legs as she stood there shaking in fear and uncertainty. Her nipples hung from her rib cage, which was clearly visible from the other side of the bars we were observing through. Emaciated is the only word to describe how Ruby appeared. This is not the spunky puppy I was hoping for in my life, but something inside of me was drawn to Ruby. What could have happened that altered Ruby so much, to make her so scared, and can we fix her?

For the second time we went in for an interview for adopting a dog. After approval to take Ruby home, it was disclosed to us that Ruby did not come to the adoption center alone, she had a brother. Several days after the owner relinquished ownership, he returned for the brother. From all accounts, when Ruby's brother saw the original owner he coward in fear and urinated on the floor, hiding behind one of the volunteers he had known only days. As if that weren't heart breaking enough, during her time at the center Ruby had been spayed, though we learned that when she was relinquished, Ruby was pregnant. She did not give birth, the babies were destroyed during the spay surgery. She may not have completely understood she was pregnant, but all mothers can feel when something is there, and when it is gone. This must have brought Ruby to a new emotional low. Such insight into how Ruby's life must have been before coming home with us helped us to see just why we wanted her to come home. She needed us, in stark contrast to my "need" for a puppy.

She shook the whole ride home, petrified of the unknown and with the unknown. What was in-store for both her and these new people in her life? As of writing this, I still cannot fully understand the repercussions of bring Ruby home. I thought of Ruby as a new member of the family Jackie and I had created. It was not until hours after we got home, as I was walking Ruby that I began to understand the relationship we were building.

As I was walking Ruby we came across a stream, the water was flowing quickly from heavy rain earlier that morning, birds were chirping, and for the first time I saw Ruby perk up. Her tail became unglued from between her legs and moved from side to side like a pendulum keeping perfect time. She held her head up to fully take in everything around her. Bringing Ruby home was not about Jackie and I adding to our family, it was about giving Ruby a family and a safe-haven from the hardships she had already had to live through at 18 months old.