Mully Gets a Snack... errr, Brother.

To say we were in over our heads with Mulligan would be a gross understatement.  For the first three weeks, he woke me up at 3:30 am almost daily. I started walking him 1 mile in the morning, 1 mile every night and it was never enough.  We must have said and thought at least 1,000 times those first weeks - what the hell were we thinking? This isn't a dog, it's a husky!  For a month he wouldn't go in the front door of the building. Sometimes he wouldn't get in the elevator. Sometimes he wouldn't get OUT of the elevator. Mully taught us PATIENCE. I lived on the internet, poured over breed research and started coming across a common theme- huskies need constant companionship.

As he settled, he discovered 1) how wonderful it was to have a dog bed (Scott had to show him how to get into it, then he wouldn't get out!) and 2) how incredibly fun it is to destroy toys- especially stuff with squeakers.  He also found his voice, which we found out from our upstairs neighnors as apparently he was howling every time I left the house (awesome.)



August 14, 2011

We discovered the local off-leash area at the forest preserve where he could run, socialize, hunt, and dig ( oh yeah, our husky DOES dig).  PERFECT.  A tired dog is a good dog.  And we encountererd other husky owners, who kept telling us that huskies need other huskies. (The howling finally chilled)

So the conversation about a second dog picked up between Scott and I.  For a short time, we thought we may actually get a second husky for Mulligan to have.  And then he started blowing his coat and there was NO WAY I was getting a second husky. 

More research, more Dogs 101, more watching dogs at the park, and we decided on a Boxer. Back to obsessive dog browsing on Petfinder.

Thursday, November 10th- New post from TLC in Homer Glen that they have a truckload of dogs and puppies coming from a high-kill shelter in Cynthiana, KY and look! it's a pair of boxer puppies!!!  Send the pictures to everyone, start picking out names.  I'm totally getting a little girl (finally!) that I can dress in cute sweaters and pink collars!  We're going to name her Birdie (another golf term- see a theme?) and I spend the next two days squealing and posting every 12 seconds to Facebook.

Saturday, November 12th- Our anniversary weekend and we're going to make a really nice dinner at home to celebrate.  But first can we go look at those puppies? Scott agrees, we pack up Mulligan, and off we go to Homer Glen.  Big shocker, the puppies are gone but "you're welcome to look at the other dogs we have available."  I start to wonder if anyone ever leaves these places without a dog.

"Honey- this one kindof looks like a boxer"

I walked over to the cage Scott is standing in front of and looked down at two dogs curled up.  One is brown, one is white with brown patches.  The brown one kind of looks up at us and his little nub wags a little.  The worker says- wanna see him?  His brother wasn't happy to have him removed (still breaks my heart to remember that part) but the little brown puppy never went back to that cage.  We went to a little room with him, he was undoubtedly totally adorable and seemed maybe even kinda potty trained.  But "he" wasn't a "she" and what is Mulligan going to think about him?  So we grabbed Mulligan and took him to the side yard, which was thankfully fenced in, and let them run around together.  Mulligan was mostly disinterested and puppy was in love with Scott. Ok, that could work. They think he's 6-8 months old and about 15 lbs.  He's mostly fully grown.  Did we want a dog this small?  But wow, he sure is cute.  He licked my nose, and that was it.  For the second time in 4 months I say, "We'll take him!"

We learned as soon as we got home that Mully's indifference was false and for at least 24 hours we thought he was going to either eat the new dog or we were going to have to return the new dog. Neither was an especially pleasant option.  One night we layed in bed in tears and if TLC had been open on Monday, we may have returned him.  Right around 48 hrs though, Mully changed.  He was still guarding somewhat, but mostly indifferent.  By 72 hrs, we knew we could keep him, and within a few days from that, Mulligan seemed to actually like this new addition.  He responded really well to "Puppy" but we decided on "Oliver", which seemed to suit our little orphan with sad eyes from Kentucky.

And that was it- Mulligan had a brother, and life with two dogs began.

November 17th, 2011- Are you gonna eat me?