Adopting Gizmo: My Scruffy Little Maniac

Welcome to the Wednesday Dogs of Dogster! Every Wednesday, we share a story from one of our Dogsters. This week is about Kate & Gizmo, her scruffy Pug mix.

Hey Dogsters! I adopted my first dog, a scrappy Pug/American Eskimo/Poodle/etc. mix, two years ago, and he’s brought so much joy (and terror – those puppy teeth are sharp!) into my life every day since. I grew up with cats and dogs, and I’ve always wanted to have one of my own. But it took me a while to decide that I was ready to provide a pup with the kind of life they deserve…

In the end, a little bit of inspiration and logistics conspired to bring Gizmo into my life. Lucky me! Here’s the story:

Deciding to Adopt a Dog: Inspiration & Logistics

Meeting Chester

During those long, slow pandemic summers and falls in 2020 and 2021, my friends and family had a lot of socially distanced dinner parties in backyards. I met Chester at one in my parents’ yard and it was love at first snuggle. He’s a sleepy little lap dog with human-like eyes and incredibly coarse hair.

I will admit to having been anti-small dog growing up, since we only ever had 40+ pounders and the main small dogs I knew were a bit yappy (my neighbor had a series of dachshunds, all named Moxie, with whom I never quite bonded). But Chester was something else, and he single-pawed-ly thawed my heart to the little guys.

Dog Sharing: The Logistics

The most important piece of the puzzle was the boring stuff: logistics. I love to travel and I’m not amazing with routine, plus I’m not huge on spending money. The solution to all of this was dog sharing! I already shared the rent on a cute little Victorian house with my best friend Chelsea, and she wanted a dog, too. Enter: dog sharing! We agreed to adopt a dog and share the costs and care.

Finding the Right Dog

Once we really started looking, we quickly determined that Border Terriers are not ideal dogs for first-time owners (Google hand-stripping, seriously!), on top of which they almost never show up at rescues in the US. Plus, it turns out that Chester is not a typical Border Terrier: they’re famous escape artists, and not all of them are cuddly or people-oriented.

So we started searching the local dog rescue pages for a similarly small, adorable pup. The first adoptable dog I fell in love with was a hilarious little guy named Mr. George.

But adopting rescue dogs in Colorado is basically a competitive sport, so while I was still in the virtual-home-visit-and-interview phase, he got scooped up. Luckily, I also had my eye on another little guy…

The rescue was calling him Junior, and he was new to the website, listed as a one-year-old Pug mix. You may have seen his rescue site pictures in our introduction post a few weeks ago:

To say he was adorable would be a major understatement! Plus, he was red flag-free (important to me as a first-time dog owner) and listed as having all the good things: good with cats, kids, and other dogs.

Gotcha Day

After Big Bones Canine Rescue brought “Junior” from an overcrowded shelter in Texas, they neutered him and let him recover at a foster home for a few days. The first day he was available for visits at the rescue, my friend and I called to set up a time. It was a workday and I had things to do (and no doggy supplies prepared), but the woman on the phone said he’d likely be adopted before the weekend came, so we jumped in the car.

Long story short, Gizmo came home with us that same day. Since we didn’t have any supplies, I snuggled on him in the car while my friend grabbed some food and toys at the local pet store. He was a grinning little maniac the whole car ride, panting happily, but once we got home, it seemed like it started to set in that this wasn’t just a foster visit.

A Few Weeks of Terror

In the first few weeks, Gizmo was absolutely bonkers. He chewed everything, including a power cord that briefly caught fire, peed on everything, and was generally a mouthy little monster. But he was also snuggly and sweet right away, and he settled in pretty much following the “three days, three weeks, three months” rescue dog schedule.

When he first came home, he had picked up kennel cough from other dogs at the shelter. So not only was I just some random lady who'd kidnapped him from his foster family, but I was also trying (largely unsuccessfully) to feed him pills, hidden in peanut butter and other treats. He also needed some serious grooming and wasn't comfortable with me touching his paws or his belly. When he was unsure, his sharp little teeth would come out, to play or just to communicate. I started wearing rubber bracelets designed for doggy teething so I could redirect his chompers.

Looking at pictures from that time now, I can see how anxious he was, and all the terrorizing makes a lot of sense. Luckily, that era of Gizmo is long behind us now!

Settling In

These days, he’s a secure, happy little guy who loves to sleep on his many beds and couches while I work. He’s a charismatic dog who makes friends everywhere he goes, and he’s never met a lap he couldn’t turn into a day bed. Because of his long legs, he can hike pretty far, and he has to sniff absolutely everything we pass on our daily neighborhood walks. And he loves a good belly rub!

Don’t forget to check back in a few weeks: I’ll share the story of Gizmo’s (adorable) 15 minutes of fame with People Magazine!

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