The first order of business was to get everyone fed in their own separate areas because our new dog Budaj (named for the Colorado Avalanche goalie) doesn't like to have any other dogs in his dining space. Annie, Gracie, and Abigail were assigned to the kitchen. Alex and Jamie got the garage, Budaj ended up with the whole outside area. Once everyone was situated, I checked on Abi, the smallest of the group.
Alex and Jamie wandered around the garage, under the Vue, and occasionally grabbed a bite to eat. They mainly just wanted to get out to see Budaj, who was chowing down and very grateful for the food! See?
Friday night definitely had its ups and downs. It took until about 8 to get everyone pretty much settled down and in the same room. Budaj has a tendency to growl when he's "talking," but since the other dogs don't do that, it didn't come off very well to them. He's very sweet, but he definitely had it in his head that he's the pack leader and tried to be the boss to everyone.
We've been using the water bottle method, spraying him whenever he growls, which seemed to be pretty effective. I realized about halfway through Friday night though that the terrified, depressed look of Gracie (who was acting very peculiar) was not due to Budaj's behavior, but was actually due to the fact that she was scared to death of the water bottle. Who would have thought? As soon as the water bottle went away, she perked back up.
So once I felt confident that everyone could get along without me for a little while, I grabbed Abi and we went to Redbox to pickup The Incredible Hulk, which we reserved online, and Panda Express...well, because it's yummy. Abi's a funny little dog. She refused to move from my lap and getting out of the car was challenging without her squirming her way out. I find it's easier just to carry her everywhere :)
After I got back, there seemed to have been some attitude changes. Gracie was growling if anyone came near her chewie and had taken her normal spot on the couch. The rest of the dogs were sprawled out on the floor, including Budaj, who was being really social. It was then I noticed him limping.
When we picked him up from the shelter, Brady saw that his paw was red and it seemed Budaj's earlier attempt to claw his way out of the upstairs...Oh yes, I forgot to share that story--
We had him up in the upstairs bonus room, which has sliding doors going into the two spare bedrooms. Budaj doesn't like to be closed in and usually doesn't stay closed in for long. He's a serious jumper, door opener, etc. So when we got home, we ran upstairs to assess the damage. Immediately we knew something was wrong when pieces of the carpet were poking out underneath the bedroom door. Then we opened the door and found he had ripped the carpet back around the door, scratched the heck out of the bottom of the door and the door frame. It wasn't pretty, but it could have been worse. Brady's dad said we can use some carpet from the closet, re-seam it, and build out shelves in the walk-in closet. The door frame will never be the same, but we can sand to smooth it and I was going to repaint the frames and trim anyways.
Sooo, we think when he was attempting to claw his way out, he probably rubbed the bottom of his paw raw. Which has lead to limping and now he bounces around on three legs to keep weight off it. Brady applied some antibiotic/pain relieving cream and bandaged him up and put a sock on him, sealed with duct tape. He's been doing pretty well with it and it's kept him from licking.
Well the dogs were all pretty sleepy so I was actually able to eat and watch the movie without too much interruption. There were a few incidents of "territorial" behavior throughout the rest of the night and it was starting to look like maybe Budaj wasn't such a good fit.
Saturday morning was sort of bleak. Neither Brady nor myself wanted to bring Budaj back to the shelter, but it was looking like we would have to. Perhaps he sensed this or maybe he finally realized us grabbing his mouth and holding it closed when he growled was telling him not to growl, but he had a pretty amazing transformation throughout the day on Saturday. Everyone started to get along and we had a mellow day. We set up our new outdoor furniture (thank you Mama!) and picked up the yard, raked, and the dogs played. We then went inside, caught up on some of the DVR and watched movies...and everyone but me ended up taking a nap. I, of course, thought it was the perfect photo op.
Jamie claimed the big chair
Annie curled up on the comforter at the base of the chair
Alexander the Great, as I call him, preferred the comforter closest to the coffee table
Gracie had her usual spot in the middle of the couch--sleeping Brady is off to the right, I had been sitting on the other side with her head resting on my leg.
Budaj snuggled up by the Christmas tree
I didn't get a picture of Abi (who had her designated area in the downstairs bathroom since we didn't want her to get trampled by the big dogs.
So the three Payson pups went home last night and it is a bit quieter. Gracie kept trying to get Budaj to play at 10:30 last night, but he wasn't having it since they played all day. Gracie's funny--she'll practically lay on top of him, poke at him, trying to get him to bounce back at her and when he's a bit more alert, he'd take her up on it. Once his paw is all better, I'm sure it'll be a lot easier for him to play more. I think he really is a good fit for her. He's a very happy dog and he loves his people :)
A few quirky things about Budaj:
- He'll growl to talk, but we have yet to hear him bark
- He lets his tongue hang out the side of his mouth when he's smiling or panting. It makes him look like a total goofball
- He likes to lay in doorways
- He can leap over the back of our couch on three legs
- He gives LOTS of kisses. This includes us and the dogs
Here's a cute picture of Budaj with his sock on to protect his poor paw. He's starting to put weight on it, which is a really good thing. He'll get checked out by the vet on Friday just to be sure he's good otherwise. I also want the vet to check out that sore/scar on his elbow.
Here's our boy!
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