If you’ve been reading for a while you’ll know that our golden retriever, Kaylee, passed away in late December. We all loved her dearly and miss her. She’d been a member of our family for 10 years and our youngest boy couldn’t remember a time she wasn’t around.
So we were a little worried about getting a new puppy. It almost felt like a betrayal to Kaylee and we weren’t sure we were ready yet. But we were starting to think we might be. So we started checking a local rescue group’s listing of puppies who needed a home. One puppy in particular caught our eye because he looked so sweet and possibly overwhelmed. His name was Bo.
In the middle of March we went to an adoption event. We said we were just going to see the available dogs and then we’d think about it some more. We met Bo, it turned out we knew his foster family and they thought we would be a perfect match for him, we took him out to the grass behind the pet store to hang out for a bit since all the noise and people in the store were stressing him out and about 30 minutes later we had a new puppy! (We’d filled out all of the adoption paperwork ahead of time including references and vet contact information and such so we were thoroughly checked out before that day and didn’t just get handed a puppy.)
He’s a 4-month old border collie mix. He’s smart and quiet and sweet. He’s also still very much a puppy so he doesn’t hold still very often (unless he’s sleeping) and he gets sidetracked easily.
Introducing a new puppy to our household of three cats has been a little more challenging than I realized it was going to be. But he is such a sweet, sweet boy that he is slowly winning them over. Here is a log I’ve been keeping of their interactions during his first days in our house:
Log: Bringing home new puppy.
Day 1: All three cats scatter and hide as soon the puppy feet enter the house. No one sees tiny cat again for the rest of the day. The larger cats poke out and stare now and then. (Note: 3 cats in the house is too many.)
Day 2: The larger two cats stick to designated “safe spots” and when on the floor walk in slow motion to avoid attracting attention. Puppy wags his tail and looks hopeful. Wants to approach but listens when told “no”. Late in the day the older boy finds the tiny cat in the ceiling of the basement. Tiny cat comes out after dark when the puppy is in his kennel.
Day 3: Stalemate. No change.
Day 4: Tiny cat finally ventures upstairs again in the daylight hours. Puppy wags tail and looks hopeful. Still listens when told “no”. Tiny cat still looks angry.
Day 5: Tiny cat is upstairs to stay and will get without 6 feet of the puppy. Puppy is more interested in his toys than the cats. Tiny cat is also interested in his toys. Puppy got so excited when everyone was home at once that he ran through the house at full speed and over the furniture like an acrobat. The cats didn’t see it so don’t know the furniture might not actually be “safe zones”.
Day 6: Puppy to tiny cat distance is down to 1-2 feet without incident. Tiny cat really wants the stuffed purple puppy toy. But it is usually close to a moving puppy. The older cats pretty much accept the puppy as part of the family now.
Day 7: Cats are moving faster. Puppy is way more interested in fast moving cats and follows them to see what they are doing.
Day 8: Tiny cat tries once to play with puppy on the other side of cracked door. Then she remembers she’s still a little mad and stops. Puppy missed it because he’s a puppy and was sidetracked.
We still miss our Kaylee of course. But it turns out we have plenty of love to give this new puppy as he grows. And we’re proud to be part of the process of rescuing dogs as a forever family for Bo. Now we just need to get him to hold still long enough to get some good pictures of him!
