*At First Sight…*

5/22/24 – The Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend, Jon was out feeding the neighborhood cats before he left for school and saw this little guy huddled up outside our fence. Jon called me out and asked if I could help the little guy. It took 40 minutes of offering some cat food and cheese to get the pup to come onto the front porch with me, then another 2 hours before he would let me touch him.

*Not sure what’s going on…*

I was able to use an old leash we had (a joke for when we tried to take Floyd the cat for a walk) and get the puppy to a nearby vet to see if he was chipped. He did have a chip, but no contact info associated with it 

We then posted his pic + info all over social media and the lost pet websites hoping to connect with whoever this guy belonged to. Then Jon & I scrambled to get all we thought the puppy might need. Jon picked up the best squeaky toy.

The puppy was skinny and scared of everything. His little jaw went one way and his nose the other, signs that he may have been kicked :(. I started calling the puppy “Stinky” Pete because his digestive system was really off and he could bring tears to your eyes with his farts. He christened the house by peeing and pooping on everything. All the noises woke him up at night, so everyone was sleep deprived.

5/24/24 – The Friday before the holiday weekend I got a call from the vet tech at Paw Patch Place where we’d taken him. She had done some sleuthing and found the vet where Pete had been neutered (you could still see the shaved patch on his front paw from the procedure). The tech left a message with the owners to have them contact us.

5/28/24 - We didn’t hear anything over the holiday weekend, so I asked the tech to try to reach out again. She was able to talk to a human who said “Oh yea, I’ll call you right back” but they never did. We called it willful abandonment and started looking into how to find his best home. The good news is that we had access to his medical records and found out that he was only 9-months old.

I learned a lot about the state of abandoned animal care in the city. Most shelters and rescues were stretched so thin that they couldn’t even answer the phone let alone an email.

*puppy at rest…*

Pete started to relax around us but had horrible separation anxiety. Every time he was left alone it was like we were killing him :( As Jon finished up the school year, we were able to tag team it so the puppy was rarely left alone. We canceled plans and cut back on work. I worried a lot, slept little, watched/read about dog training, and felt really overwhelmed.

*… eating a stick*

Pete’s best days were when we could take an early morning walk on the Monon with few other people or dogs to cause distress, play in the garden with me and eat sticks for hours, nap on the couch with Jon, then have zoomie time and a second walk before climbing into bed between Jon and me.

We could not love Pete more - full hearts all the way around, but we felt that he deserved even better than what we could offer him. We wanted a pack for Pete – people or other dogs to be around and play with all the time. A safe place where he could be the sweet, confident, smart dog we knew. We were able to connect with Creekside Animal Rescue and get his info posted for adoption.

*feeling overwhelmed…*

Jon and I knew that having a puppy would be a lot of work – Pete lived up to this expectation. We all learned about alternatives for chewing (instead of the coffee table or the big bay window). We learned the cues for “I need to pee NOW” and “I’m too excited to put on my harness for a walk”. Pete showed us how smart and eager to learn he was, picking up on tricks like sit, stay, and find your toy/stick (instead of chewing on the people).
Pete’s separation anxiety was getting less, but still supper stressful for everyone. Pete was scared of new people, barking and showing fear. We even brought in a dog trainer from Uptown Pup (they were so helpful!!) to give us direction on how best to help Pete with his reactive behaviors. We learned a lot and loved him all the way. And worried about how he/we would manage when Jon went back to school.

We had a few inquiries about him in early June, but nothing came from it. We kept working with Pete to get him fully house trained (about 99.8% success) and practiced “chill dog” where he could lie down and calm (about 30% success – it’s hard for everyone ;)).

I was starting to think he was going to stay with us forever.

7/12/24 – I got a text asking about Pete and requesting a meeting. It was from a family with 10-year-old twins and another dog. We arranged to meet on Sunday. They were hoping to take Pete home with them that day, but I hedged and let them know that he might not be ready for it.

7/14/24 – I let the family know the protocol for meeting Pete recommended by the trainer. When they came into the back yard, not to make eye contact or try to talk/touch Pete right away. We had a bag of treats ready and they could toss treats to Pete. Slowly bringing the treats closer until Pete decided to come to/touch them. They were so sweet following the protocol! The kids were working really hard not to look at Pete and let him choose. Their other dog Nova was not so shy. Pete and Nova almost immediately touched noses and then started exploring the yard together. Soon Pete was coming up to the kids and mom, taking treats from their hands. This was really amazing since Pete had only done this with one other person up to this point.

We ended up spending about an hour with the family, taking a chaotic walk on the Monon together, and letting the kids take Pete’s leash. I showed the kids Pete’s tricks and had them try. The dogs and the kids ended up playing, running around the yard together. It was beautiful. The family had a lot of experience with dogs. Mom & dad both commented on how obvious it was that we loved Pete. Jon and I knew that this family could offer Pete what we could not – a pack, kids to play and grow with, another puppy to show him how to dog, someone to be with all the time.

Letting him go with the family may be the hardest thing I’ve done. My heart hurts from missing him, but I know he (and his new family) will love and learn each other. He has the opportunity for his best life…maybe our best gift to him.

The Summer of Stinky Pete

Letting Go

Setting Boundaries