Riley

We have been considering adopting another dog for about six months. In fact, we had found a dachshund that we were very interested in back in April while we were out of town, but the rescue would not keep her for us until we got back. I was pretty disappointed; I look at Dachshund rescue sites all the time and wish I could save every homeless dog, but for some reason, that particular dog jumped off the screen. When that didn't pan out, I took it as a sign that maybe the timing wasn't right.

Fast forward to last Friday, when I was scrolling through available Dachshunds. The minute I saw her picture, I wanted to know more. As I read through her profile, she sounded almost too good to be true, so I sent it to C, and we decided to fill out an application for her that night. In addition to the application, I sent an email to her foster mom to let her know how interested in her we were.

The rescue organization had named her Sadie, so all correspondence throughout the week referred to her as such, but we knew we'd be re-naming her because we just lost our own Sadie in 2017 and we wanted her to have her own identity.

I spoke with her foster mom on Sunday afternoon. The conversation went very well, and she told me that the rescue organization had already chatted with our vet, and that as a result, they would not be contacting any of our other references. Have I ever mentioned how much we love our vet? She is the BEST! On Tuesday evening, we had a home visit, and then we received an email that we had been approved to adopt her!

Her story: she was found wandering on the side of a highway in Alabama, suffering from neglect. The rescue organization that ended up with her is in Tennessee, and they took care of her immediate medical needs, including having her eyes examined in hopes of corrective surgery. What they discovered is that there is no surgery to help her, as her retinas have become detached, but despite being blind, she learns her environment and is able to navigate with ease. They determined her age to be ten years old, she weighs about ten pounds, and she is a miniature black-and-tan dapple, which is the spotted pattern on her. I love all dogs, but I am a serious sucker for old dogs. Old and blind? I'm powerless against their charm. That's how we got our first rescue dog, Molly! She was old and blind, too!

We were prepared to drive to Tennessee to get her this weekend, but in a lucky twist of fate, there were three other dogs being transported for adoption from the rescue to the D.C. area yesterday. Let me just say that I cannot even get over the logistics involved with transporting four dogs across several states – the leg of the transport that ended with her in our arms was leg 11 of that drive. Leg 11! These people are so generous and kind…I received updates throughout the day and we knew she was in the best hands as she made her way to us.

We were excited and nervous to meet her…would Ginny like her? Would she like Ginny? Would it be ok to have another dog in the house with my mom living here? To be honest, our greatest concern was Ginny. She's been an only dog since February, when my mom's dog, Ava, passed away, and she has developed some separation anxiety that she never exhibited when there was another dog in the house, so we are hoping this helps her not feel alone. She has not been the same dog since Maddy passed away – let's be real, none of us has been the same since Maddy passed away – and we are hoping she will grow to love this new friend.

Speaking of Maddy, we went to the restaurant we ate at right before we discovered she had passed away at the kennel. We have avoided that place for 14+ months because we just couldn't bring ourselves to go back there because it was associated with the worst day of our lives. We decided yesterday that we needed to go there for some closure, and happened to get seated at the same table where we sat that morning. We toasted her and told her we were adopting this new little girl in her honor, and I shed some tears, but it was the perfect thing to do.

Up until we left our house to get her, we were still debating her new name. For some reason, the name Riley came to me, and it just clicked. We knew the transport would not arrive until about 8 pm, but we arrived at the meeting point a little early just in case, and we didn't have to wait long before she arrived. There was another car there as well, who was transporting the other three dogs on the next leg of their journey, so we chatted as the dogs were handed off. When Riley was placed in my arms, I cried such happy tears!

I sat with her in the back seat as we drove home, and she was so good! After such a long day, being in so many different cars with so many different people, I thought she might be a little squirrelly, but she was calm and quiet the whole way home.

When Ginny met her, there was no barking or growling, just cautious approach and interested sniffing. Actually, when she first saw I was carrying a dog, I'm not entirely sure she didn't hope for a split second that it was one of her sisters, but she quickly realized a stranger was in the house.

We let Riley wander around the family room and kitchen, where she will spend most of her time, to get to know her way around, and become familiar with us and with my mom. When it was time for bed, we took her upstairs along with the bed her foster mom sent with her, and we put her dog bed at the foot of our bed. As much as I wanted her to sleep in our bed, her foster mom told me she didn't like sleeping in a human bed (maybe due to her blindness) and was perfectly content to sleep in her bed on the floor. After exploring our bedroom for about 15 minutes, she climbed in her bed and went to sleep and we didn't hear a peep from her all night!

We had a pretty quiet day today, just letting her get used to everything and letting Ginny get used to her. So far, so good! I think they are going to be great friends in no time. Ginny seemed a little annoyed with us last night, but we are just making sure to give her extra love to reassure her she is not being replaced!

When Maddy died, I was sure we would never get another dog. I did not think my heart would be able to take it.

What I realized once again is that there are so many dogs who need homes. And if everyone who ever lost a beloved friend refused to save another, what a sad day for homeless animals that would be.

So we took another chance. Because we are in a position to care for a little old dog who is blind, who just needs a safe and cozy place to sleep and a family of her own!

It will be interesting to see how things develop between her and Ginny in the coming weeks; she also has a few little health concerns, so I will be happy once we take her to see our vet. In the meantime, we are just going to love her as much as we can while she adjusts to her new life!

Happy Tails to you!