Thursday, March 08, 2007

Rusty


I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family!! Rusty, a 10-month old, male, Jack Russell Terrier. He is soooooo sweet! We just got him and he fit right into the routine, even the first day! He has a couple little outfits, lots of toys, more energythan he knows what to do with, and he just loves to cuddle!!
We are so happy to have found him. And we did jump through some hoops to find him. We had some important criteria. We were not going to buy from a breeder, we wanted to rescue a dog. We scoped out the shelters, but found mostly pit bull/mixes. Not what we wanted.
We definitely wanted a small dog, we don't have that much yard space. My first choice was a chihuahua, but believe it or not, I was having trouble finding a purebred tan chihuahua at the shelters. I mainly want it to carry around in a purse! Shame on me. But they are so cute. He wanted a Jack Russell Terrier mainly. if we could not find one, then a red, mini-Dachshund would be okay.
But after going to all kinds of shelters, checking out rescue sites online, craigslist and petfinder.com. We scoured everything resource we could and just kept looking and looking. And then we even had a bad experience with a woman that runs a rescue here in San Diego. She ended up being pretty pushy and rude. She had pretty many dogs and I suspect that she really didn't want to give any of them up. Long story short, I am glad we didn't get a dog from her. I have a feeling we would have had trouble out of her.
Instead, I dealt with an organization called Critter Crossings. They are a home grown organization and believe in Fostering Dogs for Life. I am happy to have dealt with them. They offer help, support, suggestions of vets, trainers, behaviorists and more.
The first day we had him, our first stop was Petco to SPOIL him. Toys, snacks, toys, new bed, toys, dog dish, toys and oh, yea, did I mention we bought him toys!! He's got balls that light, squeak, ropes, tennis, bouncey, hide-a-treat inside, and he's torn pretty much of them up already!! OH BOY!!
So far this week (remember, only since Sunday) he tore up 3 tennis balls, 1 squeaky tennis shoe, 1 stuffed, squeaky cow, 1 double headed gopher (don't ask, it was strange)!!! Time to shop for more!!
Needless to say, we LOVE him! He's a good little guy! He does have issues with other dogs, so we will take him to a behavior specialist - you know, like the Dog Whisperer.


"Here's all you need to know about men and women: Women are crazy, and men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid."

-- George Carlin

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