Last year, I adopted two kittens named Benzi and Ember. For a while, I had been thinking about adopting a dog as well. I had researched several breeds and suggestions from people about how and what kind of dog to get, but of course, everyone has different opinions.
Taking care of cats is easy since they require very little maintenance: they use a litter box, you don't need to walk them every day, they are self-grooming. Taking care of a dog is a large responsiblity and very time-consuming and since I live by myself, I didn't know if I'd have enough time for one. Ironically, because of Covid and stay-at-home life, I've been home pretty much 24/7, so I figured now was the time to adopt a dog if it were ever going to happen.
In the middle of August, I decided to start looking online at what dogs were available at the local shelters. I'm not too picky on look honestly, it's more about personality. I looked online at Pima Animal Care Center's website one day and found a small dog that I thought looked cute, so I wanted to go check it out.
I scheduled an appointment with the shelter and when I got there, they told me that dog was no longer available. I decided to look and see what dogs they had anyway, since not all of them are listed on the website. First, I looked at all the big dogs, picking out 3 that I was interested in. Then I ventured through the small dogs and puppies. I didn't want a puppy though, because I feel like that would be a lot of work training and for a first-time dog owner, maybe something over a year old would be best. Most of the small dogs had been claimed, but there was one that I noticed because she didn't say anything and I like quiet dogs. :)
They gave me the rundown of the dogs I showed interest in, but all the big dogs were "special needs" dogs requiring additional attention and training, which was not good for a first-time dog owner. The small dog they had very little information on since she just arrived as a stray the day earlier. I decided to meet her and she was very calm and quiet, which is what I was looking for. And so I put a reservation down on her and planned to pick her up a couple days later!
Her name at the shelter was Faith and when I brought her home, I couldn't decide what to name her right away. I let her go nameless for a while before I eventually picked out the name Lucy. I don't know, she just looked like a Lucy to me.
The first night, I was very nervous. I have two cats, I kept stressing about how they would get along. I had never owned a dog, I had no idea what I was doing. I took 3 days off work and wrapped it around the weekend to get a full 5 days off taking care and supervising the new dog. I also had to take her out on a walk, train her to use the bathroom outside, etc. Make sure she liked her new food. Just a lot of new territory for me and after the first two days I started questioning myself, "what have I done?"
After the first couple days separated off in her own room, I slowly started to introduce her to other parts of the house. I'd keep the cats in her room and basically do an exchange, allowing them to get used to the smells before letting them see each other. Of course, the biggest strategy to getting pets to get along is FOOD! Food unites everyone, so I made sure that dinner time was a family thing, getting all pets to eat at the same time was very important.
It's now been 2+ weeks since Lucy has been here and everyone is more comfortable with having her around. She still occasionally pees in the house, but we're working on that. And she'll probably need obedience training down the road. Regardless, I've been taking it one day at a time, learning about her and the cats' reactions to them, and I think we can be one big pet family in a few months or years or whatever it takes. :D
I never thought I'd get a small wire-hair terrier for a dog, but
like I said, it's not so much about looks for me but their personality
and obedience. I wanted a couch potato dog, and I got lucky because she
fits that role quite well. And so my pet family is complete! I won't be adopting anymore pets, I think 2 cats and 1 dog is purrfect for me. Welcome to the family Lucy!
