J found this little guy at her work south of downtown LA in a parking lot. There are lots of stray dogs around where she works, but this one was super friendly and immediately became attached to her, ended up spending the afternoon snoozing in a chair in her office. Luckily she had a mini doggy bed in the trunk of her car! We couldn't just leave him last night outside by her work, so we took the risk of bringing him home for the night.
A little background, Starbelly is not the most welcoming nugget. She's generally sweet to strangers and dogs (unless a mailman outfit is involved) outside - but coming into our home? That's a different story. We jokingly call her Kujo for a reason. Not so funny when the future in-laws come over..or anyone for that matter. We've tried many different approaches with her, and while her overall behavior has improved a lot in the past three years, the whole *outsiders coming into our house* thing still really gets her. I was half expecting last night to be an exhausting, stressful, what the fuck were we thinking nightmare. But holy moly, it really is the Christmas season because Starbelly was curious, friendly, and as sweet as vegan eggnog.
We had them meet outside and they seemed to be cool with each other. Once bringing them in, we kept Bells (Starbelly) on the leash for a little bit and put the visiting pooch in his bed (he's been great at making that his central location) while I tried to finish cooking dinner while monitoring the whole situation with J, who was getting out of work clothes. Not once did we have to put Belly in the crate. We all ate dinner in the living room together - visiting pup in his bed, Starbelly chilling out under the coffee table. I was so. freaking. proud. Somehow, the night ended with all four of us on the couch watching Nashville. Seriously, this made me so happy and full of love that J joked (?) that if we ever have a dry spell she'll just bring an animal home. It's not a bad plan. My whole life I've dreamed of being able to give animals a home that need one, or at least help them find one. I used to do a lot with dog adoptions and animal advocacy groups but lately my energy has gone to parenting the pit.
This morning the three of us went on a walk together and they were so adorable. They haven't cuddled yet but I feel it's on the horizon. Oh. and the only issue they seem to have so far is that Bells thinks the visiting pup's bowls are for her too, so she flips out when he goes over to them; I've been having to separate them to get him to eat and drink. And maybe this is premature, but I feel like Belly has been listening to me more with the addition of the pup. Maybe now she feels more in a pack, and recognizes that I'm the leader-she sees how I'm in charge of the new guy and sees that they are the same. Before when it was just parent-to-pup maybe she was confused about our roles...who knows. But so far she has been very calm and attentive and I like it :)
So now the work of finding this guy's family begins. We're going to the vet today to see if he has a microchip, and I put an ad on craigslist. He had on a collar with no information on it, and he's not neutered - which to me, is just, wrong and weird and kind of a red flag? But he did seem to be taken care of so hoping we'll find his family. I can't imagine the agony I'd be in if Starbelly was missing.
And all this in the middle of trying to get our house ready for Christmas - parents flying in from NC and Christmas day at our place. We still have to get our tree tomorrow! Oh well...the more the merrier - especially when they are furry and cute.
