Welcome Home, Truman!

On September 30th our new baby, Truman, came to live with us from Indiana after a month of waiting. Truman is a two year old Chihuahua who, up until now, has had a pretty rough life. We found him through the Chihuahua Rescue USA, an organization that works to place unwanted or abandoned chihuahuas in loving homes.

We decided back around Christmas time to look for a family dog. Jack really expressed a desire for a pet to care for and Phillip and I knew that we wanted to provide that for him, but on a small scale. (After having lived with two crazy Boston Terriers and three cats at one time in our marriage, I have to admit that neither Phillip nor myself were eager to jump back into pet ownership quickly!) Anyway, I had always been interested in chihuahus, so I started doing research and stumbled upin the CRU. Two of their representatives came out last December for a home visit and approved us for adoption. I soon learned, however, that finding a suitable chihuahua for a home with a small child is no easy task. We found several dogs we were interested in only to learn that they were skittish around kids or were known to bite. Also, the smaller the dog, the greater the chance of a child hurting it accidentally or of it biting the child in fear. So, we waited.

And then we saw Truman, or Teddy, as he was known at the time. I fell in love immediately and sent an email to inquire about him. We heard back quickly from the foster in Indiana who said that Teddy could not be a sweeter dog - very calm, well-behaved and great with kids. Because we had already been approved, we got bumped to the front of the list and very soon found out that Teddy would soon be our Truman.

And how flawlessly he has fit into our family! As I type, he is wrapped in a blanket asleep in my lap. He is mostly potty trained, only needing to figure out exactly where we want him to go outside. He is very well-mannered. He walks well on a leash. His temperament is fantastic - He pretty much just wants to be held and petted and scratched all the time. Jack has been amazing with him. He has really stepped up to the plate in the responsibility department, which I admit has been a surprise to me. (I don't know why I ever doubt this kid!) I feared that the 'newness' would wear off after a couple of days - but Jack has fed and watered Truman every day, all by himself without being asked and he also takes him outside for walks on a leash. In a strokeof brilliance, Phillip bought a retractable leash that is just the perfect size for Jack's little hand, so he takes great joy in being the dog-walker!

We are so happy to have Truman in our family now. He was definitely worth the wait! (And yeah, sorry about the music - This is, not surprisingly, Jack's new favorite song to sing!)