The house was just too quiet after the passing of our 2nd dog in 5 months. Cats, while good pets, are a poor substitute since they are pretty much self-sufficient and sleep all the time. So we started watching petfinder, and visited SPCA, but unless you want some variation of a pit bull or chihuahua or need a cat of any size the selection is limited. When friends shared a post with me about four little terriers that came from a flea-infested hoarder situation, we had to check it out. Two were already taken, one was a bit wild and crazy, but this one took to us instantly.
We welcomed Riley to our home.
They said he's about 2-years-old, but we think younger. We had lucked out with our previous two who were potty and crate trained. No such luck this time. Of course the first thing he did on arrival was start peeing. They had him scheduled for neutering a month later,but who wants their home marked for a month? He was fixed 2 days after adoption. An added bummer was that some of the meds for pain made him sick. Great (not). We survived though.
He was totally my dog in the beginning, but has now bonded with Danny, which was our plan all along. He's smart and quick to learn. No more accidents. The pills are done. He gets along with the no-longer-feral cat, Pepper. Riley loves to be close to his people and we are definitely his people, especially at night when he sleeps up tight against us.
Because he's a people kind of guy, we're still working on crate skills though. He cries so bad when we put him up. We set up a camera to watch him for 15-45 minutes at a time. We just don't want him to tear up his feet or mouth trying to bite his way out. Danny's even gone in the cage with him to make it feel less threatening. But we know it's gonna take some time. Hopefully he'll be ok soon because we have to go somewhere that he can't go in the next couple of weeks.
The house is no longer quiet. We like it. Thanksgiving should be different this year. We have much to be thankful for, including little Riley.
