Rico Suave (Chihuahua/Husky)Dexter (Terrier mix)
In September of 2009, my wife Jenee and I went to a local shelter, and we were looking for dogs, specifically two Weimaraners so they would have a friend to always play with. The first shelter didn't have them, the next place we went to didn't but an employee there encouraged us to go to the Homeward Pet Adoption Center, which she told us was a rescue, adoption shelter. We got the directions and took a road trip to Woodinville.
Once we arrived at the shelter, we walked into the room where all of the dogs were; there were big ones, medium ones, small ones, and of course puppies. They all began to bark and as we walked through, and a small puppy caught our eye. We walked over to his kennel, which was fit for a Great Dane, and there inside was this 2.5 lb. black terrier puppy, 10 weeks old, sleeping in a leopard print upholstery bed. He got up, walked to the edge of the kennel, yawned a cute puppy yawn, looked right as us as if to say, "what's up ladies." He was adorable and so unaffected by the symphony of barks around us. He sat and stared at us for a little while as we knelt in front of him, touching his cute little nose through the kennel. Shortly after, he walked back to his bed and proceeded to fall back asleep. Clearly we interrupted his nap and he was quite done showing off is his cute puppiness and needed a rest.
We continued our tour and returned to the kennel with the cute black puppy and my wife commented that we should look at him. I thought, "don't touch the puppy" repeatedly, firstly because he wasn't the "two Weimaraners" that we were initially looking for, and secondly because he was so darn cute that he would be tempting to take home. We got him out of the kennel, he kissed us and snuggled and that was it, we were hooked. We put him back, and then we left the shelter and started to drive home. During the car ride, we were both very quiet, and then we both admitted how cute the puppy was and started to discuss adopting him. We went over the points of wanting two dogs so that they would have company, and that we wanted an older pair of dogs so that they were already potty trained. Then we started to list all the reasons why we should adopt the puppy.
The next day we went back to the shelter with our son, and spent more time with the puppy we saw the day before. After a family discussion about the responsibilities of owning and raising a puppy, we adopted him and named him Dexter. We were told he was the smallest of a litter of 7 dogs and that he was a transplant from a shelter in Yakima. Once we got him home, Dexter was quickly and easily trained. He can sit, stay, roll over, sit up, lay down, he rings a bell at the door when he wants to go out, and he sits by the door so we can wipe his paws when he comes back in. He looks at us like he understands everything we say and has been a joy in our lives. He's 3.5 years old now and he's just the smartest dog we've ever had or known.
In September of 2012, one of our friends who works at a veterinarian’s office in Seattle told us about a female terrier, about 3 years old, that was available for adoption at the Homeward Pet Adoption shelter. We read her bio online, and she sounded like a female version of Dexter, so we were really excited to meet her. It was a Saturday, so we went there and brought Dexter so that we could all meet her. Unfortunately, she and Dexter weren't really interested in each other, so it wasn't a match but since we were there we looked around some more. We walked into a smaller section where puppies and smaller dogs were, and Dexter found a little Chihuahua/Husky male that he really liked. Really, he looked like a 10 pound Husky, with a Chihuahua shaped head. They both seemed interested in playing so we asked to have a visit with him. The dog, who had a nickname of “Boo Boo” was listed as 2 years old and we were told he and a female dog were rescued from a home where they were both used as a breeding pair.
We all went to a large play room, and both dogs greeted each other, sniffed each other, which is what I like to call the “business card exchange,” and then they played. My wife and I sat on the floor and played fetch with the dogs, and at different moments “Boo Boo” sat in each of our laps and was very comfortable with us, and Dexter was comfortable with him doing that. He was very sweet and loving and seemed very happy to play with Dexter and us. We talked to Jim, who ironically was the representative that assisted us when we adopted Dexter, and he informed us of their foster program. He said that dogs were fostered between Sunday around 6pm and Wednesday before noon, and we thought that would be a great option to see how the two dogs would react together in our home. We left our information, and were told that someone would call us by 5pm on Sunday to let us know if “Boo Boo” was available to foster or if he had been adopted.
We drove home and talked the whole way, “Wasn't he cute and sweet?” and “Yeah, Dexter really liked him too.” Immediately we agreed that the name of “Boo Boo” didn't suit him, and he didn't respond to it anyway, so we had to think of a new more suitable name. I joked and said that since he was part Chihuahua and was used as a breeding dog, we should name him Rico Suave and later added “Chalupa” just so he could have a nice formal name.
Sunday arrived and we were really excited to hear from the shelter. We stayed busy during the day, but tediously watched the time pass in order to finally see it approach 5pm. Strangely, we didn't receive a call, so I called the shelter, not once, but twice, and there was no answer. I talked to my wife and said that since people were going to be at the shelter until 6pm, we should just head up there and find out what's going on. We hopped in the car and didn't even make it a half a block when my wife called again, and the representative at the shelter told us the news that Rico was being adopted at that moment by another family. Our excitement quickly turned to sadness. Then I felt so dumb to name a dog we hadn't even adopted, and had thought about all the fun he and Dexter would have had. Of course we told them that we were still interested in fostering him if something didn't work out with his newly adopted family and to please keep us on the list. We ended the call, and returned home and ate dinner as defeated hopefuls.
Around 6:45pm, we got a call from the shelter and they asked if we were still interested in fostering Rico. They explained that the family that wanted to adopt him completed the process and the paperwork, and then decided that the adoption fee/donation was too much, so they cancelled the whole thing. I don't even think we let that poor woman finish talking before we both yelled, “We'll be right there.” We raced out of the house with Dexter, broke several speed laws, and soon afterwards we arrived back at the Homeward Pet Adoption shelter. As we exited our vehicle we saw Rico being walked by a volunteer. We went over to them and Rico remembered us and walked up to us. We bent down to greet him and pet him, and then we all went inside to start the foster paperwork and were just elated that we could.
We brought him home, and after a few days of fostering we decided to adopt Rico and make him a permanent member of our family. After a few weeks, he and Dexter were completely used to each other and now are best buddies. A couple months later, we had our annual November party and our guests were so excited to meet Rico, and commented repeatedly on how well both dogs got along and what a cute pair they were.
