gabba gabba hey

world, meet the newest addition to the family.  this is roxy ramone.

jess and i have been talking about getting a dog for a while now but we waited because a) we weren’t even engaged yet b) we weren’t living together c) dogs can be expensive and d) we have no fence in her back yard.  well, we’re engaged now, but the rest of it hasn’t changed.  nonetheless, we decided to get a puppy.  puppy = more expensive than a full grown dog but you don’t really NEED a fenced yard for a puppy (though we will in a few months).

anyway, we decided to get a puppy and so we started scouring the internets and i found this little blue-eyed, beagle-husky mix.  we liked the look of her and the description so we made an appointment to go see her this last saturday in murfreesboro (where she was being fostered).

now, here’s the thing… my family has pretty much always had dogs.  we’ve had 5.  every last one of them has been a rescue either from the pound or the humane society or straight off the street.  we’ve had to deal with all manner of health and behavioral issues because of that fact.  i know how to read a dog and pick out the things that will cause issues immediatly or later down the line.  i also know how to correct these issues.  so, when we went to see the puppy (they were calling her “page” but, since we have a good friend named paige and it’s a people name, not a dog name, we changed it), i was fully expecting to see all sorts of behavioral issues since she was a rescue and i didn’t know anything about the girl who was fostering her. 

turns out my expectations were wrong.  the first thing she did when she saw us was to run up to me and flop on her belly in a totally submissive but happy posture.  whew.  i continued to watch her as she interacted with jess and was totally impressed.  she was an absolute angel.

so we took her.

after we left her foster home, jess realized that we were only two doors down from an old friend of hers so we stopped in to say hi.  roxy came in with us and was PERFECTLY behaved.  after leaving there we went to old fort park, where jess dropped me and the puppy off while she went to a bridal shop to look at dresses.  we walked all around the park and i watched how she interacted with passers by and children and she was awesome.  she was always friendly and open with adults… but she LOVED the little kids.  i couldn’t help but laugh with their parents as she leapt and played with their kids.  awesome.

all told, we had a good time in the park.  i do want to relate one story, though.  while at the park, roxy and i met a couple with the biggest pit bull i’ve ever seen.  i could tell by the pit’s body language that he wanted to play with roxy and was non-aggressive so we went over to say hi.  as roxy and buddy (the pit) played i talked with his owners.  we talked about roxy (”oh wow, what awesome eyes she’s got!  what kind of dog is she?!”) and we talked about buddy (”that is pretty much the biggest pitbull i’ve ever seen!  he’s so well trained though.  ya’ll have done a great job!”) and we watched them play.  i know that some of ya’ll read aunt b’s blog and, if you do, you’ve heard her rants about pit bull misconceptions.  i just want to back her up and tell you that some of the very best dogs that i’ve ever met are pits.  buddy was no exception.  he weighed at least 125 pounds and it was all muscle.  his head was bigger than roxy.  and he was so amazingly gentle with her even when she was literally jumping on top of his head and biting his ears.  he was awesome.  as we parted ways buddy’s owner said to me, “man, thanks for letting buddy play with your puppy!” i said, “hey man, thank YOU!  we want to get her good and socialized with people and other animals!”  he replied, somewhat sadly, “we want buddy to be that way too but so many people look at him and won’t come near him or let their dogs near him.  we really appreciate it, man.”  if you’ve spent enough time around dogs you can tell when they are aggressive or prone to snapping just by looking at their body language.  hell, if you are a dog owner at all, you should be able to do that!  buddy was a sweetheart of a dog and it makes me sad that people automatically think that pits are aggressive and violent.  they are not.  no dog is automatically or naturally aggressive.  it’s all in the training and how they are treated.

anyway, she was so tuckered out from the park that she passed out on the armrest of jess’s camaro on the way back to nashville.  cute as they come.

she’s been a joy so far.  as you can see, she looks a lot like a beagle except for her eyes, but she definitely got the husky temperament.  and she’s really quiet. i’ve not heard her bark yet.  even when i get on the ground and wrestle with her, she’s dead silent outside of a few grunts and whines.  she has a tendency to just sit back and watch you with those sharp blue eyes.  she’s patient and calm for the most part.  not very beagle-like, but very, very husky.

yeah… that’s enough, i think.  long story short (though, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve had the long story already) i totally adore our new puppy.  she’s a joy and a rockstar.

there’s a new ekspreshon in honor of roxy ramone…

GABBA GABBA HEY!!

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