Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Our family of 3 adds 3 (paws)

So while i know a lot of you are waiting to hear a bit more about London (trust me, we'll get to that), we have had even more exciting news in the last week!

We now have an extra member to the family! One with three paws, two floppy ears, and one adorable, chunky nose.

Indiana Jones Hamilton, 2 years old

Jayson and i decided at the end of last year, that January 2015 would be a great time for us to get a second dog. 

Since i'm looking for a new job, i'll be home to help with the transition; and we are done with our traveling for awhile.

So how did we get Indy?

Well, to tell you the truth, Jayson is hard one to win over. He always can think of the reasons not to take a big step (which is great because i'm ALWAYS set to take a giant leap, and he slows me down a bit). So after showing him a few dogs, and getting zero reaction, i decided to look for breeds like Adler. :)

Adler is predominately Vizsla; so i typed that into petfinder, found nearby doggies, and zeroed in on one about 45 minutes away.

Something to know about me is that i am very against the shelters/organizations that charge $250-500 to adopt a dog. The ones that tell you that you can't have a dog if you have a small child, or will ever have a small child. The ones that need 5 references before they will let you even be considered for one of their dogs, and then the dog you wanted is already adopted! (I am okay with the home check ones, but i have never actually adopted from one of these.)

My main problem with these is, of course, the price. Once you adopt a dog, that's not the end of your spending! You need a leash, a harness, a food bowl, food, a nail trimming, shampoo, a vet visit, etc!

So by not raising the money to cover the costs themselves, and passing their overhead on to the adopter, it makes it ridiculously hard for these dogs to find a home... because who can afford that!? Why wouldn't someone just go to a breeder if they have to pay that much for a dog whose past they don't know? They aren't doing a lot to actually help homeless dogs (in my opinion).

Anyhow, because of this, i zeroed in on the dog that was at a county shelter. 



After immediately falling in love with his little face, i went to the shelter website, and watched a video. (he shows up at 0:38, and there is a good little section on him at 1:10)



He only had 3 legs.

That was it. I showed Jayson, and after discussing, we decided to go see him the next day.

So on Saturday, we went to brunch (Littlefork is fantastic, btw), went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel (finally!!!), and drove all the way out to Camarillo to get this guy.

Everyone at the Camarillo shelter was very kind! They all loved the little guy (previously named Klark), and when we met him, we knew we had to get him home immediately.

After a visit to Petsmart, then Jayson running into target and walmart, we finally got to go home to introduce Adler to her new little brother!

Later, i will go over our introduction and bonding techniques for the two, but for now i will leave you with this photo.