Once upon a time there was a girl named Joleen, and she met a boy named Bob. They fell in love and got married. Joleen came from a family that loved and raised many dogs over the years, but Bob’s family wasn’t really a dog family…until Joleen showed him the wonders of dog family happiness. It didn’t take long before Bob was convinced that he might just like this dog family stuff, and a new dog family started their life together.
Fast forward 32 years to 2013. Joleen and Bob decided to adopt a dog. They had always started with puppies before, but when their eldest daughter started volunteering for rescue groups, and they saw how rewarding it was, they decided that they wanted to adopt a rescue dog to add to their family. For years earlier in their marriage, they had raised Boxers and then Dogue de Bordeauxs, kind of like Boxers only a little more calm, cool, and collected. They so enjoyed their previous French Mastiffs, that they decided their next dog would also be a Mastiff. They have a DDB named Ceibo who loves other dogs, and their at-home daughter has a chocolate Min pin named Lola, aka the Snausage.
The family did their research, and had looked at all kinds of rescue groups and other dogs. Joleen came across AZ Mastiff Rescue through one of the events that was posted, and said, “Bob! Look at all these great dogs looking for a home.†It just popped up on their radar at the right time.
They thought about a few of the available dogs. One didn’t like small dogs, so that wouldn’t work with the Snausage. One might have had another adopter already. That wasn’t the one. Joleen wasn’t partial to either a male or female, but Bob had always been surrounded in their home by females, (human or canine). It was time for a boy in the house.
Then they saw Vito. They were hooked. He had such beautiful eyes, a pretty color, and a big, goofy face.
Bleu Louie is his new name, and his official birthday is January 14. The family decided that would be the actual day of his birthday because both daughters were supposed to be born on the 14th and didn’t arrive that day. They must have been saving that day for Louie all this time. So, Louie went from homeless to being surrounded by siblings and loved ones and love and stability.
Ready to go home with the family!
Joleen and Bob knew that even though they were very experienced dog people, Louie would be different than the puppies they had started with before. Sure, you don’t get the puppy chewing and the big job of raising a puppy, or the ability to know from the beginning what different behaviors mean. You have to take time and patience to figure some of those things out. Louie had been through a stressful time being left at the shelter, and he knew neglect and instability. They committed to being patient and enjoying the time it would take to read Louie’s cues and behaviors and personality.
First things first: What does it mean when he barks and stomps his feet? It actually means that Louie wants to play! What does it mean when Louie talks and says his gurgly, growly, snorty noises? It means, “hey, I’m right here. I’m just checking in to let you know I’m here.†The family quickly discovered that Louie liked to talk. He has tons of personality and a goofy vocabulary.
Next Step: Hanging out with dog siblings. For the first several days, they worked on keeping everyone calm and relaxed, which was interesting because Ceibo likes to scooter around the house full speed, and Louie likes to put on his super-playful pants. Louie loves to use his feet to communicate! He likes to box with his paws, and he likes to play and wrestle. They figured out that while everyone was getting used to each other, rambunctious play and running around the house got everyone too worked up. Lola, the Min pin thinks that she rules the roost, and Louie listens to her. Lola also helped Ceibo get used to Louie and accept him in the family. Now Louie and Ceibo love going on walks together and they scooter around the house together like old friends. Louie also likes to play with Lola, and if he gets too nosy, Lola just lets him know to chill out.
Which leads us to: Crate Training. Louie had so much crate anxiety when he first arrived that he ripped out bars and bent his crate, howling and crying. Slowly but surely the family showed him that his crate was a good place to be during his nap time when they had to be gone. After his initial few days of being very anti-crate, Louie began to warm to the idea. There were 3 mornings of Louie walking ¾ of the way in, and on the 4th day Louie walked in his crate by himself. Now he sees it as his safe place and a comfort zone, (and a place to hide his toys for later).
Making himself at home
Next: Training the neighborhood. It seems the golden retriever people that meet in the park every day and drink coffee think it’s ok to leave their dogs off leashes and let their dogs charge Louie and Ceibo. Somehow people think that yelling, “It’s ok. He’s fine. He likes other dogs†is somehow supposed to make up for their dog being off-leash. They are quickly learning that it is bad manners to have an off-leash dog in an area where other families are out walking with their dogs. It’s always nice to train the neighbors to be good dog people…sometimes it just takes a while.
So what does the family know now: Louie loves people. Louie loves to be touched. He loves his family. He loves kids and does really great with their grandsons. He loves when his family says “I’m going to get your stubby†and they grab his little docked tail. He loves that he gets to sleep next to Joleen on his bed.
The perfect paw
The family loves Louie right back! They love that he adds another snore to their bedroom at night. They love how much personality he has. They love his big paws. Joleen says, “You look at Louie and you just melt! That big old lovie bear face, and he talks to you, and you can’t help but melt.†When the older kids come home to visit they just love to stare at Louie’s face and his eyes. He has big, beautiful eyes.
What a looker!
If you are thinking of adopting, muster up all the patience you can find….all the patience and all the love. It’s not always easy for the first few days, but that’s ok and completely normal.
Now the fun part: If there was one thing Joleen and Bob could tell Louie, it would be “You’re home now Louie, and you’re with your family.â€
Yes! They love me so much I even get a nice brushing
