Our little family is now made up of my three daughters, my crazily happy black lab Delilah and the newest addition Mr. Bean. He is a Chihuahua mix, cream colored and we just picked him up a few days ago from the humane shelter. Getting a dog from the humane shelter is always a risk. You are never sure of the dog’s background or if abuse was involved and how that has shaped the dog’s personality. Not to mention the shelter itself which tries its best to create a pet friendly environment but the sheer quantity of pets shuttled through the system creates challenges with this concept.
My current dog Delilah is incredible in her endless energy and love for anything that moves breathes or simply looks in her direction. Her biggest challenge is delivering her emotional affections in an appropriate manner that does not alienate her from the desire of her advances. She fails at this most of the time as she tends to jump 2 feet in the air or use her 12 inch long tongue to bath anyone near her with endless kisses to the disgust of my three girls. My children like having their nails done, dressing up, and when camping insist on having a camp ground with shower/toilet facilities or they won’t go. Bathing in saliva is not an option for them.
My goal was to get a new dog that was small enough to appropriately interact with my three girls in an unintimidating way and at the same time provide companionship to my lab even if its new role was lying limp and becoming a chew toy for the foot long tongue. My older daughter accompanied me to the shelter in San Mateo and we spent about an hour picking out three small dogs (all Chihuahua mixes) and set about making our decision while filling out paperwork. One of the requirements was for us to bring in Delilah and have her meet the new friends to ensure they would get along well enough with minimal disruption to the household dynamics. I fought this step as Delilah gets along well with everyone and it seemed a waste of time but relented to the insistence of the shelter director and went home to get my two year old ball of energy and let her express her opinion.
My oldest daughter had picked out two of the dogs that had been dropped off from the same owner and we thought we might take them both adding an additional factor to the scenario. I walked Delilah (using the word loosely as dragging me is more appropriate) through the double doors of the institutional building and guided her hopping into the meeting room where the two new family members awaited. Instantly the two little mongrels began growling as they started chasing Delilah around the room biting her on the ass repeatedly (I doubt she felt it much with those little mouths) as they insensately attacked her. I shockingly watched as she ran through chairs, burst headfirst into the sliding glass doors only to be knocked back trying to escape the nagging yapping attack of the two antagonists.
We gathered up the little torturous demons and I let the pet coordinator escort them from the room now acknowledging the importance of always meeting new family pets before introducing them to the environment of your home. I guess in general you should listen to the experts even if it is in a humane shelter as they do this every day for a living. They have seen it all before. We then decided to bring in candidate number three and reluctantly try him as well but our hopes were now greatly diminished that we would be bringing home a new dog today.
Biscotti was his name at the time and they led him in as he scampered past the lobby entering the meeting room with a smile on his face and a skip in his hopping walk. He went straight to Delilah as they commenced licking each other endlessly ignoring everyone else in the room. Hysterically we discovered that he had only been fixed two days before as he additionally tried to mount Delilah and show his affections in an inappropriate way for the social crowd currently watching. Luckily he could barely get his front legs high enough to even reach Delilah let alone consummate his aggression. We all laughed hysterically at the display and knew instantly that we had found our dog.
The three girls decided together on calling the new dog Bean with the strong influence of my oldest daughter. She loved the name from the beginning. I added in the Mr. to give him that added formal air which he seemed to demand every time he sauntered into a room. The only drawback to Mr. Bean that I have noticed in the first few days of his acquaintance is his inability to distinguish a tree from a chair or a couch as he lifts his legs on anything anywhere anytime he feels the urge to urinate. This and the fact that he has no concept of what a fence is meant to do since he has now twice escaped from the backyard exploring the neighborhood only to be brought home by one of the teachers at the day care two houses down on my block. He seems to be drawn by the noise from the kids.
All in all the first few days have been great. I like the fact that we have saved a dog from the shelter and what might have happened had he not been rescued and I am delighted with our new addition. I have my large manly dog in my black lab and now my feminine side can flourish as well in my little lap dog who insists on snuggling in my lap 24 hours a day. Now all I have to do is balance the affections of the two so they both get the attention they deserve.
Wish me luck.
