Now that we're settling into our new home in California, what should we do?
“Get a dog.” You say. We don’t mind if we do.
Meet Ella:
Of course there is a backstory. And, of course, I’m going to tell it in a long, drawn-out fashion. You are welcome to ignore all the words and just scroll through all the cute doggy pictures.
When we moved back from Sweden, our oldest Cinnamon Stick started pestering asking us to get a dog. Actually, both Sticks wanted one. Knowing how this was going to go, I refused the polite arguments due to the following circumstances:
I would do the majority of the dog care, and I wasn’t ready to get one.
We lived in a rental house that would not allow (another) pet.
I leaned a lot on that second argument.
Then we bought a house. So the pleading appeals started again. At first, we simply had too much to do. Then, it was the holidays. Eventually I started to run out of excuses, so the search began. I wanted an adult dog because I didn’t want to deal with teething, chewing, and house training. Referencing issue #1, I was unbreakable on the puppy front.
But what kind of dog to get? The Cinnamon Sticks were enamored of “poos” and “doodles” of all kinds. Cockapoo, Maltapoo, Cavapoo, Goldendoodles, Labradoodles- the list seemed endless. Then there were just mutts. For some reason, our oldest Stick kept finding pictures of the scruffiest-looking dogs. Again, in reference to issue #1, I decided we would get a Golden Retriever. For a couple of reasons: 1) in all my long life, I’ve never met a Golden that wasn’t a great dog, and 2) I always wanted one.
It turns out adopting an adult Golden Retriever is not the easiest thing in the world. I soon learned these are very popular dogs! And dogs that are surrendered are often not the most well-adjusted dogs. Mostly because they were strays or had negligent owners. Having two kids and two cats, we needed to find a family dog that was good with children and cats.
There are two Golden rescue societies in Northern California. NORCAL Golden Retriever Rescue and Homeward Bound. I registered at both agencies to get dogs. They take this very seriously, and both outfits required meetings with the proposed owners, including site visits to ensure that the yards where they would be living were adequate and enclosed. Luckily, we were able to do this virtually. We were informed that some people in our circumstances - you know, cats, kids - had been waiting for almost a year for a dog! The “good with cats” thing proves very difficult to determine. They have a cat on-site, but unless the previous owners share details about their living situation, no one knows whether they will really get along with cats. Undaunted, we kept visiting the websites and calling weekly, then daily to see if any dogs were available for adoption. Homeward Bound seemed a little more supportive of matching our criteria, so I basically called them every other day. After several frustrating weeks, our oldest Cinnamon Stick breathlessly told us that she found the perfect dog one Thursday night. Ella popped up on their website, and she did indeed seem perfect. She was three years old, had lived with a family with children and CATS! Mrs. Cinnamon Buns insisted that I call and leave a message that we wanted her, even though the office was closed. I complied.
The next day was Friday, and I called them at 11:00 when they opened for customers. I was told that someone was coming to look at Ella at 1:00 that day and I should check back after to see if she was still available. Later that day, it turned out she was still there.
“We could come up on Sunday to get her,” I said.
“This dog won’t be here on Sunday,” she replied. “She’s a great dog, and someone will take her tomorrow.”
“OK,” I said, “Can I come meet her now?”
“You have kids, right?” she asked.
“Yes”
“No, the whole family has to come.” She said. They are very serious about this stuff.
“OK, well, we have plans tonight and tomorrow. So that makes it difficult.” I said, “Can you hold her for us until Sunday?”
“No, we don’t reserve dogs; we are just trying to find them good homes. Our first appointment is 11:30 Saturday.” She said.
“OK, we’ll be there,” I said.
So we canceled everything and just drove up Saturday morning. Before we left, I left a message explaining to them that if Ella was adopted, they needed to call me right away because we had a two-hour car ride to get there, and if she was gone when we got there, they were going to have two very disappointed teenage girls on their hands. Our appointment was for 11:30, but I knew they opened at 11:00, so we arrived then.
We introduced ourselves:
“Oh, you're early. But that’s no problem; let’s meet Ella.” When we went inside, the staff said, “Oh, good, it's the McCanns! Ella is still here. We are so glad you made it!” Here was the first meeting:
Needless to say, we all got along. An hour later, we had our dog.
Now, even though we looked for a dog for months, we were really unprepared to be dog parents. We were probably all a little in shock over the whole thing. When we got home, Mrs. Cinnamon Buns made a speed run to Petco. She bought lots of toys and accessories, plus the largest kennel they had. When we picked Ella up, the handler said that her previous owner claimed she was kennel trained. I was skeptical - and as Mrs. C will readily point out - a little grumpy at the prospect of crate training. In my defense, I previously kennel-trained a dog, and it was a terrible experience! But to our surprise, Ella loves her kennel! She slept the first night soundly, and pretty much every night since. Whew!
What about the cats, you say? Well, again Mrs. C. lept in and read the handy paperwork that we received on just this issue. Plus, lots of additional online research. It went down like this:
For three days, we kept the cats and the dog apart. The cats remained in our oldest Stick’s room. Props to her for dealing with the food, litter box, and constant meowing.
We took items that smelled of cats or dog and gave them to the other animals to acclimate them to those smells.
We dog-doored off two rooms in the house for the cats to feel safe if they needed to hide.
After three days, the cats were released, but the dog was kept leashed in the short term so she wouldn’t lunge or chase them.
All in all, this probably worked much better than my plan, which was: they would probably sort it out eventually. After their introductions, Ella just wanted to play with Joy and Dunkin. The cats just ran off whenever Ella came around. Then a funny thing happened. It was like one day, Dunkin woke up and said to himself, “I WILL CEDE NO MORE GROUND.” After that, he stopped running away from Ella. He’d just sit there, and when Ella came up, he’d pop her on the nose with his paw. Ella would scurry off, tail between her legs, whining piteously. I could practically understand her “Please! Play with me!” Inevitably, she’d come back and try again, and she'd get popped again. Emboldened by Dunkin, Joy became more assertive, too. She was like, “Hey, I’m the Alpha here; I can’t have you showing me up, Dunkin my boy,” so she started to stand her ground too. As only the true alpha can do, she doesn’t even really whack Ella; she just sits there and hisses at her. Which produces the exact same effect on Ella as if she had been whacked. Détente has been achieved.
We have had some adjustments. Ella is mischievous. We can’t leave her alone. The first thing she will do is try to eat anything on the table. If she can’t find any food, she will try to eat socks. Clean, dirty, it doesn’t matter. The dog has a thing for socks. If she can’t find socks, she will content herself with anything else she can chew up: shoes, mail, books, you name it. So during the odd moment when we have to leave her alone (you know, to shower or something), we attach her to a long lead in our house. There is a large pole in the center of our living room that is perfect for this purpose. And it's funny: as soon as we tie her up, she stops trying to chew anything. Even if there is something in reach, she really won’t bother if she has her leash on. Although I haven't tested that theory with food.
I dreamed of taking long walks with our new dog. I think her previous owner didn’t really walk her. She was an older woman, so she probably just put Ella out in the yard for her “exercise.” Ella could barely walk 10-15 minutes before she sat down and expected to go home. After three months with us, she’s in much better shape and can easily do up to 45 minutes at a stretch now.
Did we mention she’s a retriever? We take her to the dog park, and she will fetch the ball until she’s exhausted:
Ella feels like she’s been a part of the family forever now. And I think she feels at home too:
Two parents, two kids, two cats, and a dog. Our house is filled with love (and fur).
Great read and photos! Ella seems like the perfect addition to the Cinnamon Bun family!
Happy that you took the time to write the blog. Loved it!! Shared it with all my dog lover friends.