In late 2017, our family decided to leave the Northeast and head to Colorado. We had family there, and we were looking for a new adventure. Our kids were in middle school, and we just made it happen. It was important to do this before either of them started High School. Now, if you know anything about living here, there are jokingly two requirements to abide by to be considered a true resident of this state. One is to buy a Subaru, and second is to save a shelter dog. We started with the dog (eventually we did buy that Subaru). I had never owned a dog, but both our kids were asking almost daily! So, in the spirit of being new to Colorado, we headed off to the local shelter.
What we saw there was nothing short of depressing. There were so many dogs at this shelter, and each one just begged to be brought home. As I turned the corner to another long hallway of pups, there he was. Hobie was the name we saw on the place card outside his temporary home. He was 8 years old, and just looked so scared. He looked up at us, lifted those adorable lab ears, and I was hooked.
Shortly after, I’m in the shelter’s store buying a collar, some starter kibble, a leash and various other extras to try and make him comfortable coming with us. As I headed to the front desk to complete his adoption, I was warned he had been returned to the shelter several times. He did not get along with other dogs, and his temperament with small children was questionable. Red flag #1, but knowing my kids were older, and we had no other animal in the house, I proceeded. I was being told we were “doing such a nice thing” adopting an older dog, and to my surprise the fee was only $50! I’m thinking, this is a bargain! Then of course running up the bill for all these extras was far more than the adoption fee, but looking down at this adorable creature who seemed so excited to going anywhere but back to his tiny box, I whipped out my credit card.
My son and mother-in-law were with me that day, and I was planning on making it a surprise for my daughter and wife when they got home from a trip that same weekend. That first day before my daughter and wife came home was fairly normal. He didn’t seem aggressive, was sniffing out his new home, was eating a drinking normally and slept well that first night. Red Flag #2 was when they got home! I can still see this like it was yesterday…my daughter walks in the door, and in complete shock exclaims “you got a dog!!” and immediately gets down low to put out her hand for him to sniff, and whammo…he snaps at her and barks in fear.
Hobie nipped his teeth on her lip, which begins to bleed. That freaked me out…I know how dangerously close he came to possibly biting her in the eye or face, and I was devastated. My poor kids first interaction with this pup was to get bit. This wasn’t good. We had a family discussion, and decided that she may have been too excited, this new (old grump) was just scared. She was old enough to know how to take it easy and just let him get comfortable with her before reaching to pet him going forward.
Read my following blogs for more Hobie adventures!
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