We lost our dog Roscoe in April. We have all felt the emptiness of the house since then. It affected all of us, but I think Alex most of all. He had never known life without a dog in the house. He mostly dealt with it by ignoring it, but he would sometimes talk about it, and it was clear he missed his dog. And wanted a new dog. And to be honest, I think we all did, although it took us a few months to be ready for it. Alex had stopped saying that he wanted to name the new dog Roscoe and paint it to match Roscoe’s coloring so that we could forget Roscoe died. He now just mentioned having a new dog.

So we recently agreed that maybe it was time to look. Amy found Miley listed at a local private shelter (homewardpet.org) several weeks ago. The picture above is the one she was listed with. The text said:

This gorgeous girl with the big grin is Miley! This sweetheart has been at the shelter too long! To help Miley find a forever home, we will include a free dog started kit – including a blanker, bowl, toys, and other supplies – with her adoption. We have also reduced her adoption fee. Miley is a happy and outgoing five year old Pit Bull Terrier. She is friendly and social with all the people she meets. She would likely do well with younger kids, as long as they don’t mind a big, wiggly companion! Miley loves to play and explore. She would love a home with a family that would enjoy taking her on lots of walks, and maybe even some other fun stuff like hiking! Miley has a big personality and can be a bit selective about her dog companions. She seems to be best matched with easygoing male canine friends. Miley is looking for a cat-free home. If you have been searching for a sweet, affectionate, and engaging companion, then stop in and meet Miley. She loves making new friends!

Amy fell in love immediately from the listing, and kept bugging us about going to visit Miley. Over the last month, we coincidentally found two separate stray dogs who we took care of as we worked to find and return them to their owners. Both were successfully reunited with their people in less than 12 hours, but I think having them in the house for even a short time convinced us that maybe it was indeed time.

So Amy asked again about seeing Miley, who was still there, weeks after Amy initially saw her picture and description. We all agreed it was OK to go visit. Brandy and Amy met her last Friday, and Amy came away even more enthusiastic, with Brandy giving a thumbs up as well.

So Alex and I joined Brandy for a second visit on Saturday. Alex was bouncing off the wall with excitement. And Miley PLAYED WITH HIM! They played fetch a bit (sort of) and Miley reacted well to having a crazy bouncing sometimes slightly rough almost six year old running around. She remained calm the whole time, and was even a bit affectionate with us. Alex took a long time to work his way up to actually saying it, but he wanted a dog, and he wanted this dog, now!

She is an older dog, and actually has a few minor health issues, requires medication, etc. She had been at the shelter almost six months since having been found as a stray, and nobody had adopted her yet. I honestly probably wouldn’t have even looked at her without Amy’s prodding either. But it seemed she needs us. And we often end up with the pets that need us, rather than the pets we would pick if we wrote up a description of what we thought we wanted. And so far it has always worked out well.

So we brought her home Saturday afternoon. Technically we are on a two week trial period. We haven’t officially adopted her yet. So I hadn’t posted. But the trial is going very well. She puts up very well with everything Alex dishes out. She is getting more affectionate with us by the day. She follows us around and is eager to get attention, from just sitting with us to actually playing. (Although she hasn’t yet played as long or as hard as she did when we visited at the shelter… I think she was trying to impress us to get the call to go home.)

Most importantly Alex got down on the floor and talked to her in “dog” and Alex says that Miley told him that she loves it here and wants to stay.

Which I think really means that Alex really desperately wants her to stay. He is so thrilled and happy to have a dog in the house again. He has been barely containing his joy for days now.

So I think absent some shocking event in the next week and a half, Miley is here to stay.

So welcome Miley. :-)

[Update 2015-09-10 00:40 UTC to add a word that was missing.]