cereal killer

slater is officially totally unpacked and has settled in well.  after a few days of pack unrest things just fell into place and now it seems like he's been here forever.  i was a bit of a wreck in the beginning - having had to rehome violet scarred me and left me questioning whether we could ever successfully add another dog.  my inclination would have been for our next addition to be a puppy to ease slowly into the transition but life doesn't always allow for those choices...and there slater was.  we didn't make it any easier on ourselves with him since his second return to the shelter was due to "aggression" but, come on, nobody should have to be adopted out of a shelter more than once so home he went with us.  i won't lie, in the beginning i saw the reason for his aggressive labelling - he's got poor impulse control and would growl and lunge at the drop of a hat but that's where it stops...he's got nothing to back it up.  as he got more comfortable here those episodes got fewer and fewer and now he's a peaceful member of the family.  more than likely if his first adopters had given him a little time and patience they would have gotten to spend their life with this fantastic guy...their loss.

he's really a sweet, easy-going, loving guy and he loves to play so he's a fantastic fit for carly and gang.  he's just got this one, um, thing...his expression never changes.  i mean never.changes.  is he happy, is he sad, is he excited...um, not sure.  he just keeps looking at you with the same flat expression.  fortunately in a dog it's just a little off-putting but to be honest in a person the same constant expression would leave you thinking "serial killer."  for slater i like to soften the term a little...

where's the mute button?

plug your ears people cause you about to get "specked"

welcoming committee

if i were so inclined i could write a blog entitled “what carly did wrong” and literally have enough material to post daily.  i’d use this photo as the banner…

having said that i feel i should also tell you that i adore the bejinkles out of her…as bad as she is she is exactly equally as fantastic.  among her two most redeeming qualities are she’s about the sweetest thing going on four legs and she is the most amazing welcome wagon president our family could have.  this is some footage of slater’s first day here, and while everyone else wasn’t sure of him (and vice versa), carly got right in there to make him feel right at home (which meant we had to give her a pardon on the bad shit she did that day).

happy dance

i’m so, so happy to announce that violet has officially been adopted. her trainers, nathan & bridget from k9 logics, have been amazingly kind enough to foster her over the last year and she’s been having a ball playing with all the dogs that come to their daycare.  being the amazing little lady that she is she helped a very timid pit bull daycamper come out of her shell and that dog’s owner decided that violet was a keeper.  violet now gets to spend her days with her new sister and her fantastic new life includes spending weekdays at daycare while her family is at work.  we are so thrilled that violet is getting her chance at the life she deserves.  i know she was happy during her time here and that she loved being with nathan & bridget but i needed her to be settled in her forever home to really feel okay…and quite honestly all that projecting my feelings onto her was getting tiresome. 

so it seems that sometimes you have to free some energy for things to move foreward.  we’ve been in a holding pattern since violet left.  i specifically have had a hard time with her not working here and probably didn’t feel right about moving on until violet was able to move on.  that all changed the week before christmas when we were at an adoption event put on by emmylou harris’ rescue, bonaparte’s retreat, (note that we were going for the music…not to adopt).  this dog passed by us that i missed but dave was very taken by (seriously he kept telling me i needed to see him).  later the girl walking that dog came right up to a group of us and started a sales pitch for said dog…which we fell for hook, line & sinker.  the dog, slater, was a handsome, about 1-year-old mix who had been returned to the nashville humane society on two different occasions.  the end of the story and start of a new story so to speak is that slater is now a colella.  he’s a sweet, lovable doofus of a dog who is dave’s new shadow.  i am pleased to present slater for your viewing pleasure: 

so far 2012 is looking much better than 2011 did…hope you all are having a great start to the new year!