been away so long - an update

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Hello fellow doodle lovers. It has been many moons since I have been online - full time work, part time school, and house renovations have taken up so much of my time, Ive barely had chance to think about DK. Cooper of course was not neglected, and had lots of play time in the yard, long walks, and even a trip to a cabin on a lake (will post pics of that in a blog later)

As many of you know, I have always said Cooper will always be an only dog (not counting when we doggy-sit the inlaws akbash Abbey). We have considered another dog on multiple occasions, but I cant do the grooming of 2 dogs (DH is no help there!), and I honestly could not imagine having any other "breed" of dog than a doodle.

On saturday morning, DH got a text from his friend Ron. Would we take in his dog? He is travelling a lot with his job right now. His Dad currently watches his dog for him, but hes having to travel more and more, and its not fair on his dog. Plus he is moving 4 hours away for work, so wouldnt have his Dad to rely upon. The thought of taking his dog to the humane society breaks his heart, you never know how long they will  be there or who he will end up with, and he has to move within 2 weeks so doesnt have the time to re-home him and be picky.

We thought about it for 1 day. Researched the breed. Asked questions. The next day, the dog was at our house, being introduced to Cooper and the cats. It went extremely well. The dogs played really nicely in the yard. (Cooper is submissive so we were a bit concerned the other dog would be overly dominant as it is a dominant breed, but all went well). Our big concern was how the dog and cats would react.The dog came inside, sniffed the cats then walked away from them. The cats didnt freak out either.

We though some more for another day. Checked our finances - it will cost $40 month to feed the dog his current food Atrium from walmart), $50-60 a month if we switch to raw (we plan too, if he wont eat it then he will get a grain free kibble). Pet insurance is $60 month.

Yesterday we told Ron we would take the dog. If it doesnt work out, we will rehome him, and be very picky about who gets him.

so, who is this honory doodle I hear you ask? His name right now is Runkle, which we plan on changing (I like Rumple, as in Rumplestiltskin from Once Upon a Time, or Gimli form Lord of the Rings) - name suggestions welcome. He is a pure bred shar pei. Here he is, all tuckered out after a play with Cooper

He comes home to us on sunday. He isnt fixed, so hes booked in for neutering on tuesday. Any advice would be much appreciated. We have booked some time off work to help him settle and for after surgery - Sunday to Wednesday -  but thats all we could get.

he is 2 years old, house trained, good off leash, can do some tricks, very obedient to his master, doesnt destroy stuff other than stuffed toys. He doesnt bark for the most part. He does have some anxiety when being left, he crys, but im hoping that having Cooper around will help that. He is not crate trained - Ron tried but he hates it. We plan on working on that too.

Any advice anyone can give us on any of these topics is much appreciated (names*, settling him in, keeping him calm after surgery and not licking, crate training an older dog, separation anxiety, humping if he does that)

* currentlky we have Cooper (my maiden name), and Merry, Pippin and Legolas the cats

edit - hes from a "breeder" ron saw both parents and has papers, though i know that means nothing for health, so im assuming a back yard breeder of some kind

[Stella]

Kaytlin, found this old discussion and realized I haven't seen you post anything since this - maybe you did and I missed it? Anyway, I wondered how you guys are doing and if Rumple settled in and ended up joining your family?