Rescue dog: How an adoptee pup graduated to family fixture
(Read article summary)Rescue dog Albie has been living with the Zheutlin family for three months, becoming an irreplaceable presence in their home, and fully ensconced in their hearts.
Albie, our half yellow Lab, half Golden Retriever rescue dog, has been with us almost three months now. Many have said that a rescue dog's personality reveals itself over time as he becomes accustomed to and comfortable in his new home, and this seems to be so.
For the first few days Albie was with us we couldn’t coax him upstairs. Maybe, we thought, he’s never lived anywhere with stairs. Then again, maybe he did but was punished whenever he tried to go up them. We had no idea. Now, every night, he sleeps under our bed and when he thinks we’ve overslept (in his opinion) he’ll jump right up and start licking any face he can find not buried in a pillow.
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For the first week or so, we weren’t even sure he could bark. Now, we know. He can bark all right, though it’s mainly reserved, mercifully, for moments when he’s playing enthusiastically with another dog. His brief period of barking at guests – when he decided the house was his responsibility to defend – seems to have passed with a few exceptions (my apologies to Tim, our plumber).
