Posted By Kelly Harding | 1 comment

I have done several posts, sent many tweets and posted lots of pictures on my Facebook page of pets looking for their furever homes.

Some of those pets have been lucky enough to have found that someone special to take them in and care for them.

However, I don’t hear about their lives afterwards. I wonder about them; are they happy, have they settled in alright, do they now have other furfriends to play with?

So I decided to find out!

I asked my friends who have found homes if they would share their stories with me. The response was so overwhelming that instead of doing one post, I will do a weekly feature telling their stories.

You will hear of how they came to their new home, struggles they may have encountered, how it changed the lives of both the pet and the humans involved.

This week’s story is a continuation of Ralphie’s story

The addition of a new furbrother into the family

Week 5

Leroy’s Story

When Oscar, Ralphie’s dog brother went over the rainbow, Ralphie became the only dog in the house. While he loved being the ‘only child’ and enjoying all the attention he was getting, he seemed lonely. He was quieter, pickier with his food, and he didn’t play with the other dogs at the dog park the way he used to.

Sara was browsing petfinder.com and came across a litter of labradoodle puppies at a rescue called “Ugly Mutts” http://www.happy-tails.org.

The next day the family piled into the car and drove to the foster home to choose a little brother for Ralphie.

Ralphie wanted nothing to do with any of the puppies, so the choice was left to the humans. They choose a little black boy who ran under the deck to dig in the dirt and wouldn’t come out… “we should’ve know it was a sign he would be trouble.”

With the humans decided, and Ralphie indifferent, they climbed back in the car and headed home.

Five minutes into the drive home, the car stunk up so badly that Sara had to pull over, she was sure there would be diarrhea covering the back!

Nope, it was just gas! “Foul, FOUL gas! GOOD GRIEF it was bad”!

Normally Sara would take time transitioning any dog onto a new diet, but not this guy. She threw out the baggie of food he came with and cold turkey put him on Royal Canin Maxi Puppy. Within a day his poops were normal and they could stow away the gas masks.

Ralphie quickly adjusted to his role as “big brother”, showing Leroy the good places to hang out, and the best ways to get into trouble 😉

Even though they’re the same “breed” Ralphie and Leroy are very different.

While Ralphie aims to please and craves human attention every second of the day, Leroy could not care less about learning tricks, obeying basic commands, or listening in general. In fact, for the first couple of months they had him, they thought he was “stupid”, that was until they started giving him interactive toys to play with. Nothing they gave him slowed him down, you could actually see him thinking about how to solve the puzzle.

Leroy is smart. REALLY smart. He’s just not motivated by the same things that Ralphie is motivated by. Teaching Leroy tricks is difficult, but they now realize that advanced tricks are more interesting for him than basic ones. He will gather up his toys and put them away in a box, but they still can’t get Leroy to lay down on command!

Leroy’s intelligence makes him a “ninja at getting into trouble”. His favourite thing to do; eat things he shouldn’t.

As a puppy, he went for furniture and baseboards. One time he sneaked into the dog food cupboard and ate until he passed out.

He also likes to lick things; the floor, the pants of new people that he meets, the walls, Sara thinks he likes to taste his surroundings.

One of his favorite things is licking all the crumbs out of an empty bag of food .

Of course he loves garbage, especially if there are empty coffee cups in there. When Sara drove Leroy to be neutered, she stopped at a gas station on the way, as soon as she got out of the car Leroy jumped over the back seat, took off the lid of her travel mug, and drank her entire coffee. She had him neutered anyways.

Leroy is a very busy dog, he insists on going to the dog park every day, and even that is not enough to satisfy him. When he’s bored, he lies on his back, wags his tail, and moans. It’s ridiculous, and adorable, and he knows they fall for it every time.

If Sara could only use one word to describe Leroy, it would be “happy”

Sara says: “I feel so lucky to have shared and continue to share my life with amazing animals that find joy in ‘mundane’ things, find adventure in every day, and help me to find happiness and excitement in all the things I do.”

“Rescued dogs seem to have a greater appreciation for the life you provide them. The dogs in my family have been laid back and versatile, and there’s never a question of where their loyalty lies… they love everyone they meet, but when their ‘person’ is away, they stand sentinel until you return.”

“I’ve had wonderful experiences with rescued dogs, and will turn to shelters and rescues for all future pet adoptions.”