Su-Primo

it occurred to me that we are working on the 10th month of life with Primo. his is a funny story (at least i think so). it goes something like this:

Mark and i were looking to adopt a dog (we knew we wanted to adopt for sure) and had been doing our doggie diligence for weeks. we were doing things like reading books on how to be your dog’s best friend, researching different breeds and cruising the Petfinder site on a regular basis for dogs in our area who needed a home. one day, while perusing the site, i paused on this orange dog and his profile. my first reaction was,”hey Mark, come here. take a look at the CHEEKY look on this dog’s face! he looks crazy.” he had this sort of, well, cheeky look that he does (we have come to realize this is his photo face) where he is facing away but coyly looking over his shoulder at you. if i had a digital camera, i could show you! anyway, his profile said he was up for adoption because his family now had babies and there was no longer room for him (attention-wise). his profile said he was a medium dog that weighed 67 lbs and was going on 4 years old. Mark declared that he must be a porker. we went back to searching.

somehow, i got hooked up with Katie. she owns and runs a non-profit rescue called Second Chance Ranch that saves unwanted dogs, horses and wolves. after speaking with her about what we were looking for in a dog, she recommended we meet Primo. we called and met with Primo a few days later. when we walked in, he came bounding out of a room he had been in and immediately sniffed us over. my first impression was how different he looked in person. this dog was good lookin’. his owners told us he had been up for adoption for about 6 months and that he wasn’t much of a shedder and didn’t really bark much. they just didn’t have time to give him the attention he needed with two very small children in the house. he put his front paws on Mark and started to nibble affectionately on his coat. we were sold.

and now here we are, working on close to a year of life with the Primo dog. and let me tell you, he’s one hot dog. i frequently pull up the tip of his tail, hold his chin and declare ‘Best In Show’. i am not just saying that because he’s ours. everywhere we go, people say things like “what kind of dog is that?” or “that dog sure is good looking” or “what a beautiful dog! is that a blue eye?”. he goes to the park frequently and loves to run at full speed. he is very smart and is quirky in many endearing ways. before he lived with us, he was never allowed on furniture or on the bed. now he lays everywhere. his favorites are the doggoman (formerly my ottoman) and his bagel bed. he ADORES his dog bagel bed. it’s large, fuzzy and has sides that make him feel safe. he snuggles right into that thing and tells us when it needs to be upstairs. he barks at EVERYTHING. not regular constant barking, mind you. single barks and then a snout in the direction of the task he is asking (demanding) that we complete. par example: Woof! -nose in the direction of the water bowl- = more cold water please. he loves puzzle toys and anything that challenges him. now, this is not to say he isn’t a regular dog with a bout of bad dogginess every now and then. he did bite my thumb a couple of weeks ago (and apologized the rest of the day by licking it everytime he walked by). he does have a very aggressive prey drive for small furry animals. but he is so lovable and he forgives us for just being humans, so we overlook his issues too. it would be much easier if i could post pics of him. and once i get that darn digital camera, i will!

i don’t mean to preach (okay, i do … a little). if you are thinking about getting a dog, you might consider rescuing/adopting. there are so many pets out there waiting for homes!