Friday, November 21, 2014

Puppy Love

I saw this video on Facebook....watch it if you have a few minutes and want to have your heart warmed.



The video recap is that a wonderful man went to the shelter and adopted a poor little beagle who sat in the corner and refused to look at him. He brought her home to be with his other rescue beagle, and it was instant love. Weezie showed Noodles the ropes of life and helped bring her out of her shell.

Dakota
Finch did exactly the same for Hobbes.

After my then-boyfriend's dog passed away, we kept an eye out for dogs that needed a new home. I found a 3-year-old really cool-looking brindle pit mix on Craigslist and messaged his owner.

She was rehoming Dakota because he was scared of her young baby, especially when the baby was in that rolling chair thingy.

Dakota had been rehomed 3 times and been returned 3 times. One home didn't want to crate him and found out the hard way that he was a stress-chewer. In another home he was terrified of the father.

We decided to go meet him. We took Finch along because she doesn't always get along with other dogs and we wanted to see how they would get along.

It was instant love. Dakota really didn't interact too much with us but wrassled and wrestled and ran around with Finch. We decided to take him. And we renamed him Hobbes (bet you didn't see that coming!)

We didn't realize how sensitive, nervous, and scared Hobbes was. Any sudden movement and he cringed or darted away. If we raised our voices he would flinch and look like we were about to beat him.

Hobbes' first night home
But he looooooooooved Finch. They would play and play and play and then collapse together.

Finch was the brave and adventurous one. Through her and her excessive amount of confidence, Hobbes began to realize that life was actually pretty great.  He started to flinch less and less. He was always very sweet, but his behavior became less like a kicked-puppy-begging-for-love and more like a happy dog being happy.

When I compare his behavior today to when he first came home, I can't believe how far he has come. I know he had a good life with his previous owner but he really needed a dog like Finch to find his own confidence.

He is still nervous in new situations and with men, but as long as Finch is there to lead the charge he's not far behind.  They still play and play and play, as anyone who has been to the farm can attest.

'Twas a match made in heaven for these two yahoos.








Hobbes + Finch = <3 4EVA