Planet Wilder

The new addition to our family and mostly my dog. He was a rescue pup and I adopted him from Furry Kids Refuge. [thumb:1438:r]

I’ve been looking for a dog after Kato left. It’s been a while since I obtained a dog so I had to do some research on which type I like and would be good for our family (with a young child and a dog). Before I left for our vacation, I was very interested in a Maltese or a mix of it (I was only going to adopt, so really whatever that I like that I find) because of it’s nature and I must just like hair dogs. They’re super cute too. But after emailing different rescues, none wanted to let me adopt one because of Emma’s age. Which is understandable but wish that it was more on a family basis… check out the kid first before deciding. So, I still didn’t want to buy a pup, just didn’t seem right. So last weekend, I told Drew that we’d just go to the city, visit a Petco or two, maybe a few shelters and see what they had.

[thumb:1437:l]We got to Petco and sure enough, there was a pet adoption event by one of the local rescues. We went to it and I saw big dogs, big dogs, and whoa, two little dogs. Many were holding a little dog but one was not being held which equals nobody is interested in adopting him. I looked at him. Kind of cute. I pet him, really sweet. I looked at his sheet and he’s a Lhasa pup, just 4 mo. old. So I asked Drew to pick him up for me and I held him. He was the sweetest little puppy. I had to ask the foster parent if he’s usually mellow or he’s just people shy. She said he’s a mellow little one so I thought, and thought, and thought. He got cuter the longer I held him and so I decided to go ahead and do it. While doing the paperwork Ethan got microchipped and looked at. I was surprised to find out that I was going to go home with him that day.

So now I’m puppy training again. It’s been awhile, I mean Kato was almost nine years ago. But it’s going well. We renamed him Maximus Monk since he didn’t know his other name anyways. Plus a little and mellow dog like him needs a big name. I love the name Max but Max is too short. Maximus seems perfect. At first we named him Monk, cause he’s the Tibetan monks’ guard dog, but Emma kept calling him Monkey so I told the family that mommy’s going to find another name for the pup and that’s how Maximus came about. Monk isn’t bad either so we kept it as a middle name. So he’s our little Maximus Monk Wilder :D [thumb:1439:r]

So I’ve been reading on the Lhasa’s and puppy training books. Max was already crate trained. Didn’t mean that he obediently walked in there and just loves it but it just meant that he’s ok with being put in there. So now I’m trying to make him love it so that one day he’ll plop himself in there to rest with the door open. We’ll see how that training goes. He’s now, just slowing, getting leash trained, waiting to be let out or petted (need to calm down first… the 5 minute wait), and learning sit. He’s also learning to be groomed. So far, but the sit, he’s good and house training is as expected for a less than a week at home and never trained pup. I’m getting him pet insurance too. There’s a great company that I found that’s really affordable and pays for the yearly too (with $ limits).

A little history… Max came from a puppy farm. From what the rescuer told me, not the best but also not puppy mill horrible. She said the building was temp control but the breeder has 300 or so dogs so there were two levels of living spaces/cages for the animals. Max never touched the ground until he was adopted. He was on a wire mesh area to soil and a wooden box to sleep in with his mom and litter. Max had cherry eye, his left, and that’s why he was given up by the breeder. They didn’t want to pay the extra for all the vet bills. He was picked up Sept. 16th from the breeder. The breeder said he was born in May, 4 mo. at pick-up, but no exact date. So I’m choosing May 16 as his birthday.

So I’m really glad that I got Max. He’s super sweet and mellow still. He’s gotten more playful and really funny when trying to experience new things or hears a strange sound. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a pup again. It’s so sad reading those puppy farm and puppy mill stories and all the abandoned dogs who need homes. After the research that I did, I did think of buying another pup, NEVER buy a dog from a pet store or a breeder who breeds many (different) dogs. Do a Google search and you’ll learn why.