Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Dog Days - part three

Was I ready for a new dog?  I had misgivings.  For instance, I still cry when I drive by the vet's office.  And seeing dogs that look like Harry is bittersweet.  I'll just take a look on the the internet, I thought to myself.  This led to, I'll just see who's available at the shelter.  And ultimately, "Hey, Yarn Widower, there's this dog in Miami I'd like to go meet."

So we drove down to meet a 10 month old puppy named Bennan.  He came right up to me and when I looked into his eyes and thought, Are you my dog?, he looked right back at me as if to ask, Are you my people?  Yarn Widower and I went home and thought about it. Would he pee inside the house?  Would he chew up all our stuff? When Carolyn, the woman who runs the rescue, suggested that we foster Bennan to see how he fit into the family, it finally felt right to me.  Yarn Widower was dubious but slowly came around.

This is Bennan, our foster dog.

As a 6 month old pup, he was picked up as a stray in Miami and taken to Animal Services.  Being a fearful little guy, he did not get adopted right away.  Not until Carolyn of Second Chance Dog Rescue scooped him up to find him a new home.  He's definitely a terrier - maybe a mix?  But with that distinctive red coat and white chest, I suspect he's an Irish terrier.  Anyway, he's a very handsome fellow.  He's got a hefty underbite so his bottom teeth show.  I've decided that's how he grins.



But it was certainly a rocky start between Bennan and the Yarn Widower.  It turns out that Bennan finds strange men to be very threatening.  For the first few days, Bennan growled and bared his teeth whenever the Yarn Widower entered his field of vision.  I was very sad because it didn't seem like things were going to work out. But the Yarn Widower started to patiently win the little guy over with hot dogs (crack cocaine for puppies) and various other delectable goodies. Bennan got over his fears and responded with cuddles and puppy love.  In the end, you get what you give.

 The boys watching golf

 Hi there, did you call my name?

Watching Ernie Els sink his putt

OK - watching golf is kinda boring


Bennan is an alternate spelling for Benen which is an old Irish name that means "he who is blessed."  As of last Friday, Blessed Bennan is now our adopted dog.  We're all pretty happy about it.

5 comments:

  1. Ah!!! I'm so happy for you guys. He looks so friendly. And Bennan's a great name.

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  2. Thanks. He is a cutie. Oh, and Bennan's adorable too.

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  3. He is ADORABLE! I love his eyes. And the underbite is awesome. The photo of him yawning is priceless!! I'm really happy for you guys and can't wait to hear more stories Thurs night! :)

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  4. That dog looks like he is full of awesome. I want to scratch his little scruffy chin so badly. I'm way behind on your blog, but I'm happy you took the leap. I was just saying to Steve the other day that I think I will always have to have an animal in the house. They just make life so much better.

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