When you love someone, all those annoying habits you find in other people become endearing. The unforgivable becomes cute. When you love someone, you put up with a lot more of their shit than you do with the average acquaintance.
So it is with dogs.
Two years ago, Tucker was a mildly unruly canine who hadn’t been taught much in his life. He destroyed two soft-sided crates, shit in the house once, pissed in the house twice, ate my hat, and did things generally annoying to others. As much as I was angry at the time, I forgave him quickly because I loved him. That’s how love works. I wasn’t getting rid of him because of a few minor indiscretions.
Perhaps that’s why so many people surrender their animals to shelters. They don’t love them enough to forgive and to work through the awkward age and teach them to be civilized adults.
Tuesday marks two years since I met Tucker, then named Bruno, at the NKLA Super Adoption. I’ve spent countless hours and unknown amounts of dollars on training and learning with him and developing our relationship. It’s all been worth it and continues to be worth it. He is my soul dog. He’s stuck with me—whether he likes it or not—for the rest of his life.
Ruby, on the other hand, is not my soul dog.
When Tucker and I returned from our last film production venture, it took almost two months before TAPS had a potential foster for us. Her name was Canelle (Elle for short.) She was a delight. I didn’t even have a chance to write about her because she was so easy, polite, and a pleasure to be with that she was adopted quickly. She was house-trained, walked on a leash fabulously, was quiet, and just the right amount of affectionate. She and Tucker got along famously.
So it is with dogs.
Two years ago, Tucker was a mildly unruly canine who hadn’t been taught much in his life. He destroyed two soft-sided crates, shit in the house once, pissed in the house twice, ate my hat, and did things generally annoying to others. As much as I was angry at the time, I forgave him quickly because I loved him. That’s how love works. I wasn’t getting rid of him because of a few minor indiscretions.
Perhaps that’s why so many people surrender their animals to shelters. They don’t love them enough to forgive and to work through the awkward age and teach them to be civilized adults.
Tuesday marks two years since I met Tucker, then named Bruno, at the NKLA Super Adoption. I’ve spent countless hours and unknown amounts of dollars on training and learning with him and developing our relationship. It’s all been worth it and continues to be worth it. He is my soul dog. He’s stuck with me—whether he likes it or not—for the rest of his life.
Ruby, on the other hand, is not my soul dog.
When Tucker and I returned from our last film production venture, it took almost two months before TAPS had a potential foster for us. Her name was Canelle (Elle for short.) She was a delight. I didn’t even have a chance to write about her because she was so easy, polite, and a pleasure to be with that she was adopted quickly. She was house-trained, walked on a leash fabulously, was quiet, and just the right amount of affectionate. She and Tucker got along famously.
They played well and outdoors only. Inside they were civilized with each other to the extent of being too polite to even take the bed from the other, leaving it empty.
Elle was with us for one week. Rightfully, she was snatched up in an instant one Sunday afternoon without even a foster-to-adopt contract. This guy was certain: she was for him for life and Elle got adopted right then and there.
A week later, Christy called me with another similar dog to Elle. Probably a Viszla mix, she was around Tucker’s age and size and energy level. We did a meet and greet and they got along well. Ruby plays harder than Elle. Unlike the refined, cautious Elle, Ruby is a brash, undisciplined puppy with confidence and no internal editor. She is the female version of Tucker two years ago.
Ruby is a sweetheart. She is soft and cuddly and doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She expects the best from others, as Tucker did at that age: she shoves her face into Tucker’s when he’s eating or chewing on a bone not realizing that not all dogs can take that level of personal space invasion. Tucker growls a warning, and she gets it, but is a little offended.
Tucker and Ruby are well-matched when it comes to playing.
Tucker and Ruby are well-matched when it comes to playing.
They even run the same:
They are the same height, but Tucker weighs in at ten pounds more. Ruby is a girl, but certainly no lady. She is rough and tumble and floppy and silly. I could watch them play for hours. Ruby is the first dog Tucker has played Tug with. Usually he or the other dog find it too much of a risk, but since Ruby doesn’t have a filter and is pure innocence, she knows the game is all in fun.
She's also madly in love with Tucker:
Ruby is learning, but it’s hard to teach a first grader when you have a senior in high school right next to her. Tucker has an extensive vocabulary and expects to be rewarded for understanding the same concepts that Ruby struggles with at this point. Ruby will learn them. I’m confident of that. When Ruby finds her person, he or she is going to teach her amazing things and she’ll get them quickly. I, unfortunately, can’t teach her a lot with Tucker right there.
Going for a walk is difficult, although I know most people don’t see why. Tucker walks next to me or behind me 90% of the time. I hook his leash to my belt, and that’s usually enough to keep him in line. If I see another dog approaching, I’ll put the leash in my hand to guide him to stay where he is. Ruby, on the other hand, lunges ahead, tugging on the leash, not used to being constrained by a six foot piece of cord. It’s not her fault; she was simply never taught.
She doesn’t pull much, but she’s constantly ahead of me and hasn’t gotten our walking rhythm down yet. A lot of people walk their dog in front of them and her walk wouldn’t bother them in the least. I, however, have extremely high standards and expect a dog to walk beside me in loose leash walking style.
But that takes training. Training I can’t do with Tucker with me.
When I used to foster, before Tucker became my partner, I did some foundation training with each dog. It was easy and fun, and I enjoyed watching the dogs learn. But now I’m lucky to get anything in. Training is learning and learning is a life-long activity. Tucker and I still go to classes. I need to reinforce obedience often as when we get out of habit, he gets lazy and starts doing inappropriate things like jumping on people when he gets excited. It’s like anything in life: if you don’t use it, you lose it. I still want to teach Tucker more skills, but I always need to reinforce the old skills to keep them solid.
Ruby makes me realize just how far Tucker and I have come. And that not fostering for the first year with Tucker was the absolute right decision. He and I needed to build our foundation. Today he doesn’t need be crated as he’s no longer destructive. He only needs leash-walking reinforcement when we’re in new or over-exciting situations like adoption and fundraising events. He’s even starting to Come when he’s told on a more consistent basis. All of this comes with age and practice and the strength of our relationship.
Ruby is ready for her forever family. She is brash and undisciplined. She is destructive, but not out of spite—just out of not knowing any better. Channeling a dog’s energy for good instead of evil is every dog guardian’s responsibility. Tucker and I know how to channel his energy. Someone out there knows how to channel Ruby’s.
She doesn’t pull much, but she’s constantly ahead of me and hasn’t gotten our walking rhythm down yet. A lot of people walk their dog in front of them and her walk wouldn’t bother them in the least. I, however, have extremely high standards and expect a dog to walk beside me in loose leash walking style.
But that takes training. Training I can’t do with Tucker with me.
When I used to foster, before Tucker became my partner, I did some foundation training with each dog. It was easy and fun, and I enjoyed watching the dogs learn. But now I’m lucky to get anything in. Training is learning and learning is a life-long activity. Tucker and I still go to classes. I need to reinforce obedience often as when we get out of habit, he gets lazy and starts doing inappropriate things like jumping on people when he gets excited. It’s like anything in life: if you don’t use it, you lose it. I still want to teach Tucker more skills, but I always need to reinforce the old skills to keep them solid.
Ruby makes me realize just how far Tucker and I have come. And that not fostering for the first year with Tucker was the absolute right decision. He and I needed to build our foundation. Today he doesn’t need be crated as he’s no longer destructive. He only needs leash-walking reinforcement when we’re in new or over-exciting situations like adoption and fundraising events. He’s even starting to Come when he’s told on a more consistent basis. All of this comes with age and practice and the strength of our relationship.
Ruby is ready for her forever family. She is brash and undisciplined. She is destructive, but not out of spite—just out of not knowing any better. Channeling a dog’s energy for good instead of evil is every dog guardian’s responsibility. Tucker and I know how to channel his energy. Someone out there knows how to channel Ruby’s.
Ruby doesn’t mean to be destructive. When I yelled at her to stop digging a hole in the yard, she looked back perplexed on why this would be a problem. I couldn’t even yell at her when she went through the patio screen door because I was in another room when it happened, and it was evident that she just didn’t see it or understand it. Tucker can see the screen and waits for me to give him the go ahead; she can’t see it and isn’t waiting for permission.
Fostering is a chance for Tucker to have company when I’m gone. But it appears this might not be working out. Left to her own devices and a plethora of toys to choose from, Ruby still ate the strap off one of my crocs (when I bought them I did think, “These totally look like a dog toy” but bought them anyway because Tucker knows better), and now today, she ate the brim off my hat.
Fostering is a chance for Tucker to have company when I’m gone. But it appears this might not be working out. Left to her own devices and a plethora of toys to choose from, Ruby still ate the strap off one of my crocs (when I bought them I did think, “These totally look like a dog toy” but bought them anyway because Tucker knows better), and now today, she ate the brim off my hat.
Two years ago, Tucker ate the brim off my favorite hat that I had for almost half a decade. I was upset, but I forgave him because I love Tucker. Love gave him a get out of jail free card.
Ruby is not my soul dog. I of course forgive her, but I’m much more frustrated. I had been gone less than four hours. It was morning. She had Tucker and any of the many dog toys to play with, but she chose to eat my hat, get a bunch of string from somewhere (I can’t recall where it came from), knock pillows off chairs, move the dog bed to the hallway, and channel her energy for evil rather than good. But it’s not her fault. None of it is. She needs guidance and training. She needs discipline and patience. And she needs that person who loves her so much that one indiscretion doesn’t cause her to be returned to the rescue.
Ruby is a great dog, just as Tucker was a great dog when I met him. Ruby has just as much potential as Tucker did then to become a well-trained, polite but still fun, dog who knows her boundaries and what is acceptable and what isn’t. It sounds like a tremendous task to get her to that point, but it isn’t because all of that comes in one package: her person. Ruby’s person is kind and generous, intelligent and patient, and will forgive her for eating his or her favorite hat, going through the trash, and whatever else she does while they build their relationship. Her person will do that because he or she recognizes Ruby as his or her soul dog and will love her no matter what.
Ruby is a great dog, just as Tucker was a great dog when I met him. Ruby has just as much potential as Tucker did then to become a well-trained, polite but still fun, dog who knows her boundaries and what is acceptable and what isn’t. It sounds like a tremendous task to get her to that point, but it isn’t because all of that comes in one package: her person. Ruby’s person is kind and generous, intelligent and patient, and will forgive her for eating his or her favorite hat, going through the trash, and whatever else she does while they build their relationship. Her person will do that because he or she recognizes Ruby as his or her soul dog and will love her no matter what.
This is a prime time for Ruby’s forever person to join her life. She’s ready to learn and eager to please. She’s still all puppy but is adult enough to not need house-training. Yes there will be tough times, and yes she isn’t perfect, but she is perfect for her person.
If you think you’re Ruby’s person, or know someone who might be, please send them her way. You can find her ad here: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33716558
If you think you’re Ruby’s person, or know someone who might be, please send them her way. You can find her ad here: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33716558
I know Ruby's person is out there. Please come get her. She's ready to start her life with you. And I can't afford to lose any more hats.
RSS Feed