It's a big day in my house!!!! That's right, today is Remo's second birthday.
Maybe I'm crazy... okay, well I am, but I make a point to make his birthday special. That includes putting a birthday candle in a hot dog and singing "Happy Birthday" to him as well as giving him a new toy (His favorites are the plush squeaky ducks that Wal-Mart sells for $4) and a cup of special doggie ice cream.
A tad much? Probably. But at the same time, the first 4 months of Remo's life are unaccounted for, but most likely were not good. When we got him, he cowered down to males, and would FLIP out when someone wore a hat. Abuse much? I hate it. We've broken him of those things, but sometimes if he's done a "no-no" and Mr Dani has to be stern with him, he'll still cower and tinkle. Poor puppy.
The second 4 months of his life, not that great either. He was in the Humane Society shelter. It's better than where ever he was, that's for sure, but nobody wanted him there. I can't imagine that.
The story of how we got Remo:
For my wedding anniversary last year (2009) Mr Dani surprised me. He insisted we were broke and that we couldn't even buy each other a card, much less a gift. I was so sad. I wanted our day to be special. My cousin was in town and he demanded that he take him on a "Men only errand" leaving me and my cousin's girlfriend to hang around the house. It was cool. They got back and there wasn't much to the errand. No "toys" or anything, so I figured they had just gone to see something stupid. You know how men are.
A couple of days later, Mr Dani took me to the Humane Society animal shelter and said that our anniversary gift was to pick out a dog. It had been a few years since we had a dog, our last one having to be put down due to epilepsy; and I was ELATED.
I saw a few dogs on the shelter's website that were very promising. Mr. Dani doesn't really like male dogs 'cause he thinks their junk is gross. I can't blame him, it is, but that wouldn't stop me from getting a dog that I had a connection with.
We checked out the dogs I had picked out from the website. One had two holds on her, and they don't allow more than one hold at a time. One had only one hold on her, but the people were extremely promising and the lady told us that the people were most definitely getting her, they just had to pick up her supplies and stuff first. We looked at a few others, and there was one we really liked, but she was going through heart worm treatments.
After what we went through with Rusty (our last dog) there was just no way. Rusty had to be put down a week before her second birthday due to a seizure she just couldn't come out of and it had really caused a lot of internal damage. She would never be the same and most likely be blind and deaf. I was nine weeks pregnant at the time, and there was just no way we could afford all the care she would need after. Long term care, not just care for that night. She would need dialysis and have to see a neurologist regularly. Even if we could afford all of that, it's no life for a dog. Especially a dog like Rusty who was so happy and active.
Given that history, there was no way we could take a chance on a dog that's life was balancing on a precipice. Heart worm treatments are extremely difficult and many dogs don't live through them. Maybe it was heartless of us, but we just couldn't do it. We'd get to take the dog home, but we would have to bring her back every two weeks for more treatments and since those treatments consisted of basically putting pure arsenic into the dog's system, we just couldn't do it.
But there was one dog that stuck in our minds. His tag said he was 8 years old and once again - with the history - we didn't want to risk getting attached to another dog only to have it for such a short period. What stuck so much in our minds though, was that he seemed so sad. Most of the dogs jump and bark and stand right at the doors to their kennel. This one didn't. He stayed lying on his cot and didn't even lift his head. His eyes came up to meet ours, but that was it.
The Humane Society lady showed us a few dogs she thought might suit, but she had to have been insane, because a Great Dane/Retriever mix was just NOT going to work in our town house.
We asked her about the 8 year old dog. She was confused saying they didn't have any dogs that old. I went back and checked, and once again, he didn't move from his cot. He watched me check his little tag and to my surprise, he was 8 months old. Who ever had written the tag had some pretty bad handwriting.
We spent some time with him in a small office that the lady and her co-worker shared. He was shy and only wanted to climb in the lady's lap. He was afraid of Mr Dani and Mini Dani, and we were worried. The office was sort of crowded. There were the four of us, the dog, the co-worker, another adoptive puppy-mommy and the puppy she wanted to adopt.
The lady told us that his reaction to us made her nervous and that she'd like us to come back the next day and have the behavior specialist watch how the dog was with us. I was just so sure that he wasn't going home with us. But he was adorable and seemed so sweet and loving. The next day, we went back. The lady and the behaviorist took us to a small, fenced in yard and let us all play with the dog. He was a totally different dog. Turns out, he had never been in that office until the day before, so he was scared. Plus there was just so many people in there.
In the yard, he was loving and fun and licked Mini Dani's face repeatedly. He still cowered from Mr Dani but it wasn't awful.
We did the paper work, which included changing his name because Spock was just so wrong and didn't fit AT ALL. All the office personnel seemed so sad but happy to see him go. Clearly, he was an office favorite. An hour later, he was in our home.
We quickly learned why Remo was such a favorite. He's nothing but a big love. He loves to cuddle, he loves to play, and he loves a good belly rub. He's very quick to jump on your lap if he sees you sitting on the couch, or at the very least - put his head in your lap and go to sleep.
Remo is a very important part of our family. We love him dearly and wish him a super fantastic birthday!!!
Thanks for reading the (long) story of how Remo came to live with us!
Remember: A shelter dog has so many benefits and by adopting one, you're doing something so, SO good. Remo had given up. He'd spent four months watching people pass his kennel and not give him a chance. I'm thankful for those people though, because by them not adopting him, I got the best dog in the world.
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