It only took a few minutes for us to realize that Pax, the dog we had driven 40 minutes to see, had issues which would prevent him from being a good fit for our household. He was friendly, exuberant, and independent. Not to mention black and very large(a newfie/shepherd mix)..all qualities I love in a dog - but clearly too energetic and untrained for the stage of life we're in.
In addition to being better suited for older children, Pax had been recovering from a series of surgeries following a shattered elbow, culminating in the placement of a metal plate in his leg. While he was obviously a fantastic dog, he needs to be adopted by the right family who is prepared for the necessary commitments to medical expenses and training.
What we didn't expect was their suggestion that we meet another dog from the shelter who had been waiting for adoption. She was described as a smaller, friendly, fairly low-key lab/shepherd mix.
Trinity, or 'Trynn' as we've been calling her, has managed to steal our hearts in under a week.
*She is gentle and obedient
*She never tries to steal food from small hands, or any hands for that matter
*She stays out of the garbage
*Doesn't mess in the house
*Sits at our feet while we work
*She loves going for walks and behaves very well on the leash
*If you leave her in the car, she sits quietly in the passenger seat staring at the last place she saw you. The interior of your car is as clean as you left it(umm..or as messy, in our case)
*Crate trained
*Chews only her toys
She does come with a handful of flaws, likely due to her rough start in life:
*Fear of men(especially tall men), the sound of a camera shutter, traffic on wet pavement, and other oddities.
*A passion for identifying and rolling in gross things. We quickly learned the body language clues preceding the dreaded roll and have had no further problems. She quickly learned that a stinky dog gets a bath with vanilla butter cream scented shampoo.
*Appears to feel humiliated during bath with aforementioned shampoo.
Trynn came to Bellwether after being rescued by a woman who found her wandering as a stray. This woman's dog impregnated Trynn, who was likely too young to be a healthy mother. She was surrendered to Bellwether in severe distress during the birth of her pups, only three of which survived(they have all been placed in homes, happily).
The staff at the shelter is amazing. Over the course of our three visits and subsequent adoption, they spent hours with us. They answered our questions thoroughly and honestly without glossing over any of the responsibilities we were about to undertake. During the 9 months Trinity spent there waiting for a family, the volunteers and staff of Bellwether gave her love, attention and training. I've never seen a shelter where the animals seem well-adjusted and the energy is so peaceful - if we lived closer I'd want to work there.
So..the kids still think this is temporary, and it's only been a week; something could happen that would make us reconsider this choice. But as of this morning, Daniel and I are both getting very attached to this beautiful dog.
And feeling great about taking a chance on her.
