New Dog

Despite Pinto being a big part of our lives, and the fact that we have two cats, we have added a fourth member to our fuzzy family. Major, a twelve-year-old beagle mix, came to us from Leah's best friend Rachel. I'll detail the reasons for Major needing to be re-homed later, but for now, I'll simply introduce her.

Major is white with surprisingly soft fur. She has hypothyroidism, which has led to her being overweight—Leah started her on medication and has been portioning her food. Major likes to sleep a lot, mostly in various dog beds throughout the house (one of which is technically a cat bed), though she just learned that she's welcomed on the couch. While she's not nearly as rambunctious or aggressively affectionate as Pinto, she can often be seen wagging her tail and carrying around a toy Leah gave her as a welcoming present.

Speaking of Pinto, he's had a little trouble adjusting. Pinto's best friend is Ash, the 80 pound lab staying with Leah's folks, and the two of them love wrestling for hours on end whenever they're around each other. When Pinto and Major met, he was really excited to meet a new dog, but when Major didn't wrestle with him, he seemed to get confused. "Why do we have a dog who won't play with me?" he seemed to ask. He's also having trouble learning how to share. Major came from a home with other dogs, but Pinto only lived with Ash for about a month: anytime we give Major a treat, even if we give Pinto one at the same time, he looks jealous. When we pet Major, he looks jealous. When we won't let Pinto push Major to the side and steal her food, he looks jealous. Basically, anytime Pinto’s not the center of attention, he's had trouble handling it. I'm hoping that he'll adjust.

Major, on the other hand, has adapted pretty quickly. She knows to come upstairs when it's bedtime (though she doesn't join us in the bed like Pinto does; I'm not sure if that will change). When it's time to divvy out treats after going outside, she knows she has to sit before receiving her reward. She knows to give the cats their distance (I'm not sure if she's been around cats before). She knows that Leah likes doggy kisses and, while not as liberal with them as Pinto, it's not hard to get her to lick a waiting face. She also has taken a liking to me, which I enjoy.

With Major being so old, we don't know how long she'll be a part of our family, but we're happy to have her as long as we can.