Stella!

Brad and I decided to add a new member of the household. Last weekend, we adopted a dog! This is the typical conversation when I told folks above a certain age that I got a dog:

Me: We adopted a dog.

Them: What’s its name?

Me: Stella

Them:

Other younger people ask if it’s after Stella from How I Met Your Mother or the dog on Modern Family… or ask nothing at all. Anyway, Stella is a 7-year-old American Bulldog and Dalmatian mix. What does that even look like? Thanks for asking… like this:

Isn’t she cute? Stella found herself at the APL when her owner became too ill to care for her and her sister. Stella was bonded with a little dog, who was adopted a few days before we came in to find a canine family member. We looked at a few younger and smaller dogs since we were looking to bring home an adult dog under 50 pounds.

Then we ended up with Stella, who is nearly 60 pounds of stubborn canine affection. She tries her best to be a lap dog and loves to give kisses.

You may wonder, “What about Holmes and Watson? Aren’t you a cat person?”

Holmes and Watson are just fine. People told us to expect hissing and spitting from the cats when we first introduce a dog. I have never once seen our cats spit and they seldom hiss, so I wasn’t surprised when that didn’t happen. We brought Stella in the house slowly and Watson walked into the room and meowed in the authoritative hello way that he uses on company, which normally earns him pets. Stella is totally uninterested in them and they are curious about her, they’re only afraid when she sneezes or snorts (as we are working over kennel cough, this happens a lot).

As for me being a “cat person” I submit the following:

I really expected to have to figure out how to keep the new dog out of the cat food, but we’ve discovered that it is the opposite problem. Both cats truly want to eat dog food. They’ll take kibble out of her bowl, realize they can’t chew it, then drop it on the floor and walk away. Stella doesn’t care that the cats try to eat out of her bowl.

My dog growing up was named Tag which was short for Tag Along, because she’d follow you around. Stella takes the following you around thing a step farther, she likes to be within inches of my leg at all times. She has separation anxiety, so we’re working to make her feel comfortable that when we leave, we will come back… even if it’s just leaving the room.

If you’re looking to add a pet to your family, definitely check with your local animal shelter, APL or rescue group over going to a breeder or pet shop. A ton of great animals need homes.