Mia, an eleven year old Dalmatian, came to stay with us on a trial basis yesterday. She is tiny for a Dalmatian, much smaller than our Collie Lody.
Mia has a sweet, friendly personality, but unfortunately had become very apprehensive around the toddler in her family. They live in an 800 square foot house, and Mia was living in a sort of internal exile to keep her away from being jumped on by the toddler. She had lived with her family since she was six weeks old. They were quite upset about the situation, especially since their vet assured them that it was better to put her down rather than try to find her a new home since older dogs always become so depressed when they are rehomed! I told the owners we had adopted several older dogs, and they seem to feel at home within a few weeks.
Mia was quite apprehensive last night, and clung to the security of the sitting room, which probably had the smells of her family since we had sat and talked there. However, when she heard me scooping up dog food, she indicated that a little thing like being abandoned was not going to keep her from eating. Although we don’t allow dogs on the furniture, I decided to give up on that battle and put the dog comforter on the sofa for now, so her first experience of us isn’t one of being corrected constantly.
This morning she has been wandering around the house and coming up to me to be petted when she sees me. Lody is being very good: she doesn’t seem to mind me petting Mia as long as I pet her at the same time.
Congratulations on your new family member! Hope things work out OK for all of you long-term. Mia couldn’t have landed in a better spot, IMO. Will look forward to additional posts about the “puppy”!
– Becky
What a sweetie! And the dog, too. 😉 Good on you for taking older dogs into your home. It sounds like she’s fitting in just fine.
ellie
She has such a sweet face! I hope she transitions well!
Mia is absolutely precious. I think she is coming around. Hope she and Lody become good friends–and I’m so glad her owners didn’t put her down.
I wish you all the best in this transition. Mia is adorable.
Congratulations on your new dog! She looks lovable and eager to please.
Hi. I’m new to your blog… stumbled across it while looking at pictures of stormy skies. I hope you don’t mind but I poked around in here a bit, read some posts and linked you. If you don’t want to be linked then let me know and I’ll remove it. I just like to link blogs that are down to earth blogs about everyday life.
RE: Mia… Years ago I “adopted” an older dalmation. I called him Oly. He just showed up on the doorstep one day and wouldn’t leave so I brought him inside and we became pretty good “pals”. He lasted another 3 years then had to be put down because of a cancerous tumor. I hated to do that but he wasn’t able to take on another fight for life. Either way, he had a good last 3 years. He adapted rather quickly and was pretty darned protective of the house, the car and I.
You’ll enjoy Mia.