INtroducing... Sneakers the Wonderdog!

It's been a while since Jasper breathed his last farewell on the floor next to our bed after a characteristically optimistic (he was a beagle) and junk-food-filled battle with kidney disease.  And -- poor health playing a close second only to neuroticism in terms of challenges of ownership -- we were a little traumatized by the whole experience, and not in a major hurry about getting our next dog, truth be told.

But there was definitely a void that had been growing, and in recent months we have increasingly found ourselves thinking about and discussing when the right time might be for our next canine adventure.

Although one of the kids when asked definitely preferred the chaotic excitement of a friendly beagle, we all agreed that there were merits to considering other breeds.  Especially if our next dog was to again be a shelter rescue.

After missing out on a large but friendly-seeming wolfhound mix during a recent visit to the THS (he was adopted the same afternoon by another family), we began to discuss the possibility of our next dog more seriously.  We had a benefactor who loves dogs and was willing to commit considerable finances to the project, but didn't want to commit time.

We had or could arrange time.

So, after surfing the THS website, we narrowed it down to two options: Bagel, a beagle mix (yes, again, cringe!) and Zorro, a mastiff-boerboel cross who we feared might be too large for airline travel restrictions (think summers on PEI), but whom we at least wanted to enquire about because he seemed so lovely and smart.

I sought input from and sent links off to the kids, who were enjoying a visit across on the car ferry to Halifax with their dad, and called the Humane Society to see about these two mutts.

Alas, Zorro had mistaken someone's ponytail for a toy earlier that day, and was now on a 10-day bite "hold" before he could be put up for adoption again.  And Bagel had some serious separation anxiety issues apparently, and had not been crate trained (translation: Beagle howl for hours on end).

While I was ready to consider it a sign that maybe we should wait after all, my partner had now been sucked into my enthusiasm for moving forward and had her heart set on getting a dog, any dawg (well, any reasonably "good" dog!), so we decided to pay a visit to one of the branches of the Toronto Animal Services.

And so it came to be that Tats adopted the dog formerly known as Whoopi, an extremely energetic and enthusiastic lab mix "stray surrender".

This afternoon's visit to our local vet tells us she is still a puppy-ish, likely around 10 months old (but not likely to get much taller... though likely to fill out a little, perhaps another 10-11 lbs), very healthy, well-tempered, and definitely trainable. (And we WILL be training her; indeed, we've already begun!)

She's already shown herself to be a good sport, riding on the subway, and trying very hard to sit when we tell her to, and visiting a dog park near to where we were volunteering with the PrideHouse 2015 last night. She has been readily making friends both four- and two-legged! (Tied outside the cafe where we had dinner afterwards, she stopped nearly every passer-by and demanded petting and snuggling and smiles!)

In addition to riding subways and wagging her tail, our new beast seems to tremendously enjoy playing retrieve with sticks, ball, or whatever you are willing to throw for her.

We are looking forward to taking Sneakers (or "Snickers", depending on how the mood strikes you) with us to PEI next week where she can run off the boundless energy she has currently been expending in the fenced-in yard of a friend with who we've been visiting here in Toronto!

From what we've seen so far, she is definitely a "pack" animal, and we are excited to introduce her to the other two members of her pack!!

Have crate, will travel -- look out, PEI, here comes Sneakers!!! :D