thirdgenlxi Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 ... The newest member to my furry little family! Those of you on my FB have probably seen him already, but for those that haven't.... little background story [warning: kinda long read] Some of you may remember what happened to my beloved Riley back in July http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/12893-well-i-most-definitely-didnt-see-this-one-coming/ That whole situation was probably one of the most emotionally draining things I've had to deal with..... probably ever (even more so than burying 6 riding buddies in the ground in a 2.5 year timespan). Keep in mind, I like dogs/animals more than I do people.... and my dogs are my whole world.... pretty much everything I've got as I have no family or anything around here. My head was spinning so much at first I just wasn't really ready for another dog yet. About a month ago my buddy Travis (who has 4 dogs himself, lol), said, "hey you want to run over to the shelter and see what they got?". I thought, sure why not.... not really seriously looking just kinda browsing and see where it took me. This was the very first shelter visit I made. We go over there and look around, and of course I want to take home pretty much every dog I see, lol. But one of them, who's name was Turbo, caught my eye... he looked strangely similar to Riley. Not sure if it was that or whatever reason it was, but I kept going back to his kennel and checking him out. I didn't take him out at all as we got there not long before they closed so we had to go. I gave the whole getting another dog thing lots of thought, and decided the best way to honor a young life so senselessly lost, is to save another one. Plus Piggy and Piper are complete opposites as far as play and energy levels go, so I kinda wanted to get another higher energy dog like Riley was that would play with her, since Piper is a lazy bum and doesn't like to get off the couch, lol. So I really started to look around... so over the next month I went to pretty much every shelter in the surrounding 3 counties. Even drove all the way down to Atlanta, GA a couple weeks ago (with Piggy and Piper) to check out a foster dog down there (lady I used to live with). I looked at a LOT of dogs.... loved pretty much every one I met. Now I had the problem that I couldn't decide (seriously how does anybody pick just one anyways??). Since I would have to introduce Piggy and Piper to any potential dog anyways to make sure they got along, I figured maybe they could help me narrow it down some. We went over to several of the shelters and introduced everybody together. No big issues, but several of them just either weren't interested in each other, or just didn't seem to "click". I had gone back to the original first shelter 2 more times since then, and noticed Turbo wasn't out there, so I just figured he had gotten adopted. Then I was checking out their website, and noticed he was still listed on the adoptable dogs, along with a few others that I didn't see in the kennels I ran over there real quick after work one day to see if they had anything new, and asked the lady about the couple dogs I had seen on the website that I didn't see in the kennels, Turbo being one of them. She looked them up and said, "oh yea they're still here, probably in the back room". Sure enough he was in a room in the back (where the public can't go without a staff member) where I guess they rotate the dogs around. I took several of the dogs out to walk and in the play area, including Turbo. Again, loved them all... couldn't decide. So yesterday I took Piggy and Piper over there (hadn't taken them to that shelter yet) and we did a few introductions. The staff lady was out there with us the whole time watching closely to body language and whatnot and they can tell whether it's just not gonna work or not. After several introductions, one of which was a no-go right from the start (a Boxer mix named Mac), it came down to 2 dogs..... Turbo and another reeeaaallllllly hyper 10 month old Boxer mix named Alakazam. Very sweet dog but had some pretty bad toy possession issues, enough to make the hair on his back stand up which is def not good in a multi dog household. So it came down to one.... Turbo. We brought him out again, for a total of 3 meetings, and did some more stuff with them (walked them next to each other, more play time, etc), and the staff lady said it looked like Turbo was probably the best match. I was kinda leaning towards him anyways, so with their reassurance, and knowing I was gonna have to just pick one sooner or later, I decided he was it.... lets take him home! I had already put in an application when I was there before, so all they had to do was call my landlord since I rent my house and make sure it was good with them (which it was), and finish up the paperwork and we were all on our way So I'd like to give a nice warm welcome home to.... Turbo!! He's about 1 yr 9 months old... they had him listed as a Hound mix, but what he's mixed with.... who knows. But he's a total sweetheart with an awesome personality. And very energetic to play with Piggy too! His car manners are absolutely fantastic! Then we headed down the road to the PetSmart to get him some supplies. He's really very well mannered, all things considered.... His resemblance to Riley is.... scary Got him enough to get him started off right (new collar and leash too, not in pic) Finally made our way home.... after some dinner at Chic-Fil-A, of course, lol Again, car manners.... couldn't ask for better. And I usually don't let them ride up front, but Piggy and Piper were in the back, and the staff and I both agreed putting them all back there in that close of quarters so soon after meeting each other, would be a bad idea, lol. But he just curled up on the seat and slept like a baby the entire hour drive home Finally got to check out his new home... I'd say he was a happy boy and glad to be out of a kennel Definitely not shy, and made himself right at home... gobbling his dinner down in no time Aaaaand..... then passed out cold, lol He was a little hesitant to get up in the bed with me at first, but he finally did, curled up next to me and slept like a baby the whole night... still there with me this morning when I woke up. Probably the best sleep he's had in quite some time (he was at the shelter for several months) Made a couple videos today too..... his first time out in the back yard (2 acres) where he could RUN!! And then later on in the house..... they went at it like this for probably a good solid 15 minutes without even slowing down. Had a game of bitey-face and some wrestling in there somewhere too, lol. I'd say he's definitely high enough energy to keep up with the ol' almost 7 year old Piggy, haha Anyways that's all I've got..... sorry for such a long rambling story and so many pics, I'm just excited to have something positive to be.... excited about I guess, lol.... after all the legal letdowns over the past couple months that were totally draining me. So maybe this little guy will help me get my mind off things.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 Dang! That's one aptly named dog you have added to the family, Jared Looks like he's meshed very well already. Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirdgenlxi Posted September 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2013 Dang! That's one aptly named dog you have added to the family, Jared Looks like he's meshed very well already. Best wishes. Thanks!! Yea he most definitely lives up to his name! haha But he calms down when needed too, and in the house after they get through with their little playtime wrestling match, everybody is out cold and he's perfectly calm. Playtime though, he's a lil wild man! I love him to death already though..... couple little issues we need to work out but nothing big at all. He starts his obedience classes this wednesday . He's doing great though! No complaints or regrets whatsoever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford_Fan Posted September 24, 2013 Report Share Posted September 24, 2013 Congrats on your new family member! He is beautiful! Great job on rescuing him from the shelter. Brings back great memories of when I adopted from the shelter. I am like you, I like dogs more than people. I hope you have a long happy life together. I like his name, it is perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtbalser Posted September 24, 2013 Report Share Posted September 24, 2013 Welcome home Turbo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsto Posted October 2, 2013 Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 This is awesome to read!!! I kept up with the story about Riley, which Im sorry you had to go through something like that. I never really knew how attached we can become to animals since I never had any growing up until recently when my brother moved into my apt with me. He has a 4 year old rat terrier and I love that lil guy so much. No matter what has happened throughout the day and how bad it may have been, to have someone when you come home and be so ecstatic to see you and wanna play and just be around you is a great feeling. What makes this even better is that you rescued him from a shelter and he was given another chance. Congrats again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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