The Hilliards have a new family member and I have a new blog subject! Meet Vegas, our rescue dog.
Almost 3 1/2 years ago now, our first ever dog, Scrappy, died of cancer. Carter was only about 5 weeks old, so we weren't in any hurry to replace Scrappy with all of the other demands of our two children. Now that the kids are older and both in school, I decided it was time to start thinking about getting another dog. I started looking before Christmas, but with the holidays and Robert's knee surgery, we put off the decision.We still weren't sure if we were ready, but the kids and I decided to go to a dog adoption this past weekend to just look around and pet some dogs - or so we thought!
Vegas was listed as a Schnauzer mix, although from the looks of his wiry hair, short legs, curly tail, and long snout I'm guessing he is a mutt through and through with a mix of many different breeds. We adopted Vegas from
The Animal Rescue Project and they told us what little they knew about his history. He was found in
mid-November tied up at a rest area near battle creek. He was found with the tags in the picture, showing that he had a rabies vaccination in Las Vegas, NV in 2007. The Battle Creek animal control facility called the numbers and tried to locate his owners, but they were unsuccessful. After 10 days, The Animal Rescue Project rescued Vegas from the shelter, where if he stayed too long he would have been put down. Vegas was at their shelter for 2 months before we decided to take him home. The shelter estimated him to be about 4 years old.
Robert was working, so I was sure that we wouldn't come home with a dog, but after spending almost an hour in the petting room with Vegas, I fell in love. He passed all of the tests - pulling on ears and tail, taking away rawhide without aggression, not a crazy barker, enjoyed playing with dog toys, got along well with another dog, and he wasn't overly assertive about needing our attention. Also, he was the cutest scraggly mutt I've ever seen, and if you had ever met Scrappy, you know that's just the look I love! So, after getting Robert's OK over the phone, we decided to bring him home!!
After stopping at the pet store for the essentials, we brought him home, set up his food and water, showed him where to do his business, and gave him a bath. Since Vegas was at the shelter and not in a foster home, the rescue wasn't sure if he was house-trained. So, I decided to keep him in our basement until we could figure out exactly where he stood on that front (the carpet down there is much more cleanable than on the main level). When Robert got home the next day Vegas greeted him with doggy enthusiasm and the family was complete :)
In the few days that we've had Vegas I've learned that he is indeed house-trained, he loves to play fetch and will bring the toy back and immediately drop it at your feet for another throw, he enjoys chewing rawhides and nylabones, he's great on car rides (he's ridden along on a few trips to preschool), and he's generally an awesome dog. I can't imagine why his former family would've wanted to give him up, but their loss is definitely our gain! Here's a few pics I've taken of him over the last few days. Have I mentioned that I also have a new photographic subject :) My kids are probably thankful to not be the only ones having to pose anymore!
