Day 3

Charlie is shedding a lot more than we expected. (EEK!) He does have really long hair and he hasn't been groomed for quite some time, as far as I know. They did give him a bath Sunday morning and we've been brushing him a LOT- which has helped. We're getting him in Wednesday morning for a summer buzz. I hope that helps our issue- we thought a dog who needs to be groomed would shed very little....so hopefully we can get this under control!

He's getting used to things and is finding his favorite spots. He really likes the area under our deck- I'm sure it's nice and cool down there.

My parents are coming to visit tonight- they're driving 2 hours from the big N-town. I suppose they'll get here around supper time and we'll grill out with my brother tonight. None of them have met Charlie- so he's in for a treat. They all love dogs, so he'll have some new besties.

We have been going for walks and I can't get him to poop IN THE GRASS! (And yes, I always have my bags along, for those of you who are wondering). He doesn't know to step to the side to do his business, so he ends up making quite a mess on a person's sidewalk. I do my best to clean up, but good grief!! I know he doesn't know any better, coming from a puppy mill and his time at HUA, so we're really working on that with lots of praise when he does the right thing in our yard. It's only been a few days. He's a smarty and he'll catch on. I just wasn't prepared for sidewalk smearing!

I'll be updating with pictures of his new weave tomorrow! He's going to look like a completely different dog!

Welcome home!!!

I thought ya'll might enjoy some photos from day 1 with our babe-a-labe. This first photo is at Hearts United when we were getting ready to leave with him. He looks terrified! :(

 

Charlie quickly warmed up to both of us, but seems to have chosen Nate to be his new BFF. He LOVES following him around and usually chooses to sit next to him when we're both around. I think it's incredibly cute since I'm more the "dog person". Nate's doing great though and, quite honestly, I think he's falling for Charlie as well! :)

Charlie- looking much happier after he warmed up to us and his new environment!

I think he's going to be just fine!

Day 1

Charlie made it home!

This morning Nate and I packed up and drove to HUA to pick up our little gentleman. We were so excited to see him again and to finally bring him home. We were greeted by the founder of HUA, a sweet little woman with an incredible vision. She went through "Dunstan's" (his HUA name) paperwork with us, gave us a bag of his dog food, a leash and harness, tags, etc. He was ready to go! She brought him in from his breakfast and morning bath- still a little damp from the shower. He said his good-byes to Carol and walked out the door with us. We loaded up, sat him on my lap, Nate took the wheel, and Charlie's curly hair filled our car with aroma of wet pup and we were off and on our way!

He's done incredibly well today. He was well-mannered, didn't make any messes in the house, played with his new toys, sat while we combed out his unruly tangles, and only barked at David Letterman on the TV. Other than that, he was a prince! We went for a walk this evening, sat in the freshly mowed lawn, played a little catch, and had lots of bonding time with Charlie. We understand the responsibility and are really excited for our new season!

Stay tuned for more adventures. We have lots of photos from yesterday that I'll have to post soon. He's also getting a summer haircut tomorrow- so he'll look completely different! We're just thrilled- and I have the summer off, so you'd better believe I'll be blogging!



I'm leaving you with a clip from my other blog heathereigsti.blogspot.com that gives you an idea of where Charlie came from:

Last weekend we went to Auburn to a rescue shelter for dogs. There were SO MANY there! :( HUA is a no-kill shelter and they bring in dogs from puppy mills, auctions, and sides of the highway, among other places, I'm sure.

The dog hunt has been an interesting one. Initially, Nate and I disagreed very much on what our family dog would look like. I grew up with a dog in our house since I was 3 years old. Nate grew up with zero dogs in the house. There was an occasional farm dog to help chase out tom cats, but no canines sleeping in his bed! Needless to say, the hunt for a happy medium was interesting, to say the least.

We both compromised and came up with a pretty good solution: a smaller-non-shedding-easy-to-be-around-kind-of-dog. (A dog in the house!) We went to HUA on Saturday after looking online at pups for weeks. A few times, we'd thought that we'd found the perfect little puppy in the classified ads, on craigslist or online- but then we'd realize they were heavy shedders or something else would fall through. So, off to HUA!

While we were there, we saw hundreds of dogs- young, old, fierce, timid, sad, shy, yippy, yappy, and beaten. We looked and looked. We walked through multiple complexes full of dogs waiting for their forever home. We'd found a few dogs that we thought might work, a few that were a little older, but who deserved a soft bed for the last remaining years. Then, there was one last stop. And that is where we found him.

The young man we were with walked up to the fenced in yard and hollered for "Dunston". He walked into the complex and came out with a happy little blond and white cocker spaniel on a blue leash with a big old smile on his face, tongue hanging and feet hopping out to meet us. Nate and I squatted down to greet him. He walked right up to Nate, stepped his big fat paws gently up Nate's lap and gave him a friendly sniff and, I'm pretty sure, a smile.

We've got a HUA volunteer coming today to talk with us about the breed and to do a home inspection. If everything goes as planned, we should be able to pick up our little guy on Sunday. I'm beyond excited. We did some "new pet" shopping last night, and I'll show you pictures as soon as I know it's a for-sure thing. I don't want to get TOO excited before we have the go-ahead.

We will be changing his name to Charles Widmore. For those of you who know who that is, congratulations! For the rest of you, Charlie will be what we call him. I hope that very soon I get to show you pictures of our new little prince. He might even have his own blog. And it may or may not already be created. :)