When Karl and I moved in together in 2001, I also moved in with his boxer dog, Ruckus. I was there when he got Ruckus; we went past a pet store and he was in there, upside down, licking the glass. They said he was a runt and next week would be too old to sell as a puppy, so they would have to “let him go.” We let him go home with us that same day.
While I grew up with plenty of pets, we only had two dogs, and both were very difficult. Ruckus, however, was easy to love and he became my baby as well as Karl’s. A few years later we married, and a few years after that, I got pregnant. Ruckus was so good with kids, I knew this would be an easy transition for him.
However, just two months before our daughter was born, my husband’s father died unexpectedly. He had two dogs, Alfie and Cindy, and unable to find a suitable home, we took them in. We soon went from one dog in a small home to three dogs and an infant in a slightly larger home (did I mention the house was under a major renovation from just before his dad’s passing to two weeks after our daughter was born?).
Three dogs felt like a lot because they struggled to get along well in this new situation. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks; by this time Ruckus was 10, Alfie was also 10, Cindy was 6, and they were all now together in a home new to all of them with some other kind of animal that cried every two hours and stole the attention of the big humans.
Ruckus died in February of 2012, Alfie died in November of the same year, and Cindy lived until the end of 2017. We took a couple of years off from having dogs so we could recover from many years of change.
By 2019, we were seriously missing having a dog in the home and in September, we adopted Oscar from the local shelter. Our first small dog, Oscar is a whole different experience and we love him so much. However, Oscar hasn’t always been easy.
He has a severe case of Karl Separation Anxiety. When my husband is away from the home, Oscar whines and barks without stopping. Even if he wears himself out, he will nap for maybe a minute then jump up barking, as though he missed something. We have him on medication, which calms him a bit, but doesn’t ease up on the frantic barking that can go on for hours if we’re all away from the house at an event.
We travel often with Oscar, and find that when he’s kenneled in the same room as another dog kenneled, he doesn’t bark. He’s also quite social and was rescued from a home that had multiple dogs. We’ve been thinking for a while that Oscar may enjoy having another dog in the home. While we’ve always known we’d adopt a shelter dog, we have always thought we’d like another boxer dog.
Last week, my husband went out to get something from the car and bumped into our neighbor, who has a sweet boxer dog herself. My husband remarked on how much he adores her dog, and the neighbor shared a picture of a boxer dog at our county’s shelter (which is a kill shelter). It was a stray that animal control picked up, the shelter named him Bowser. My husband came in, showed me the picture of Bowser, and headed out to the shelter to meet Bower IRL.
Two hours later, he texted me these photos, and I realized we suddenly had a new addition to the family! Welcome, Bowser Gary!
The next day, our daughter and I joined my husband as we went back to the shelter to pick up Bowser. As soon as we met him, we understood why our husband fell in love so hard and fast. Bowser is such a sweet, calm, and obedient dog and he clearly adores Karl too.
It’s clear Bowser didn’t have an easy life. He’s two, tested positive for Lyme, and has a 2/6 heart murmur. His ear is torn, he has scars along his ribs, and one around his neck that the vet thinks is from being tied up with a rope. He was never neutered; we are having our vet do this due to the heart murmur. But because he’s over 80 pounds and with his health issues, the shelter said he likely wouldn’t have been adopted and put down at the end of the month.
Bowser is leash trained and responds to verbal commands like out, sit, stay, kennel, and no. We haven’t left him unattended in the backyard, but even with his height and strength, he hasn’t tried to escape. We got him some toys and he loves playing tug of war and fetch with them, but also uses his big dinosaur as a pillow. He tried to scope out the top of the dining table once, but when we commanded no, he got right down and never tried again.
We have an appointment with a vet cardiologist in a couple of weeks to determine if he can handle anesthesia for neutering, and will continue to do what he needs to be healthy, safe, and comfortable.
He’s quite the snuggle puppy, loving to cuddle on the floor with us humans and even lying on the couch with Oscar, using him as a pillow (and Oscar surprisingly liking it).
Speaking of Oscar, there has been the obvious power struggle with a younger but bigger dog entering the household. Oscar does try to instigate fights, and Bowser usually diffuses them. But this morning, they play fought and were both very careful, but silly, and it was lovely to see.
Oscar isn’t one to walk on a leash; we have a pet stroller for him, and Karl does morning jogs pushing the stroller with Bowser jogging by his side. Due to his heart murmur, we don’t push him too hard and make sure he stays cool, but Bowser is also good at letting us know when he needs a break.
We’re so happy to have Bowser part of our family, and love the energy of having multiple dogs in the house again. Now with our daughter a teen, she is able to help feed, bathe, and exercise the dogs along with us, and it’s no surprise both dogs adore her. What a wonderful way to start the summer and put a happy spin on the year!