Dog Ownership: The First Two Weeks

Alright. This post won't be a whole lot of writing, but a lot more pictures! Just to get you all caught up, here are some pictures and their descriptions of our life with Simba these last two weeks. A whole lot of "oops I ripped this toy a part" and "zzzzz I'm so sleepy" photos. But a whole lot of cuteness nonetheless.

DAY ONE:

One of his many favorite spots in the house -
on the single chair, on his blanket, looking out the window.

He ate his first meal on the first day! Shows how comfortable he was! Some dogs don't eat for days after moving into their new home.

Managed to shred a toy to pieces on day one

zzzzzz. Zonked out after a long first day!


DAY TWO:

He used to hide behind the driver's seat on the floorboard with his head under the driver's seat - for the first time since we've known him, we saw him open up and actually become a dog! He still gets a little nervous in the car, but he loves sticking his head out of the window now! He almost gets more nervous when I don't open my window. It's going to be a long winter with the window cracked ;)

We took a car ride to the local walking trails - we mistakenly got ourselves into a 3 mile walk. Not the smartest idea when we haven't worked out in a while. But Simba loved it!

We took a break by the lake shore, and Simba seemed eager to jump in! I can't wait for next summer to get him into the lakes up in Minnesota!

My wonderful coworker, Joline, bought Simba this from our local dog bakery. We thought we would treat him for his nice long walk :)

Went to bed early this day - he was exhausted from the 3 mile walk.

Other days from the last few weeks:

I lub my elephant

What a pretty boy! :)

This is one of the only stuffed toys he has not destroyed yet. I think he's getting frustrated with it - had to take a mid chew snoozer.

Probably one of my favorite times of the day with Simba. He jumps up on the loveseat and snuggles in between Ben and myself. Normally does this during the later evening hours.

Drinkin some Heinisniffin' :)

He loves his beer toy - of course it didn't last long.

Someone had too much to drink ;)

Simba is in love with Ben. It's so funny to watch him mope around the house from when Simba and myself get home from work to when Ben gets home - about an hour after me. He only mopes around the house when Ben is gone, it's the sweetest thing. He's looking out the window and down into the parking lot where we park our cars.

Visited our local dog food shop, and I gave in and got him a flea stuffed toy. Again, it didn't last long. 2 hours to be exact.

Leaning against my leg and snoozin.

I love driving and watching him out my side mirror. It's hilarious!

Well, there you have it! We are still continuing to bond and get to know Simba, as is he with us. We have discovered many things about Simba, including his fear of light reflections, lights, camera flashes, flashlights, any light reflecting off of the walls, including street lamp lights, anddddd he's scared of the dark. Oh, and bridges! Such a quarky dog, but he keeps us on our toes! Many more pictures to come of our lives with Simba. As we have learned, and so have you after this post, he is super laid back and playful - which is a perfect way to describe our way of life. Simba fits right in :)

Thanks for taking a peak into our lives. Look for some more updates soon!

Love,
Ashley & Ben

Adoption Day!

We are so sorry for the delay in the post. These last two weeks have been insane and exciting with our new pooch!

Adoption Day has come and gone. Simba officially came home on Thursday, October 13, 2011 and we have loved every second of our life with him. The move into our new pet friendly was pretty exhausted, but luckily we had a few days to unpack and unwind before our new addition came into the home. (THANKS TO MY MOM AND DAD FOR DRIVING DOWN HERE AND HELPING BEN AND I MOVE, WE ARE EVER SO GRATEFUL! WE LOVE YOU BOTH!) We are all settled into our new place and we are loving it! Ben and I love the community -- especially the way they are so accepting of pets here but mostly, we are loving the quite! We are no longer on a busy road and tucked back a ways from the car noise. This place makes everything feel a lot more like home in Minnesota.

After we were all moved in and settled, Simba came home. On the Thursday after our move, Kendra, his foster mom, came over to do a home check and to have us fill adoption papers out. We wanted her to bring Simba with her during this home visit because we wanted him to feel comfortable with her there - and we wanted him to see that his foster mom wasn't scared here, so there was no need for him to be. And I tell you, I think it worked. Although Ben and I have known Simba for a few months, he made himself right at home at his new home. He was jumping up on our bed and on the couch and managed to find his toy bin right away. One thing you should know about Simba - he is super friendly and outgoing with people and kids, and also other dogs. Sometimes with people, it takes a bit to warm up and at times he can be a more to-himself sort of dog, but other than that, he's fantastic. He does, however, get very set off by random things most dogs don't even notice. All it took was a little unfamiliar noise, or a little light or reflection for him to shut down, hide under a bed or table and shake all night long. Living in an apartment, there are a lot of noises, which made us a bit nervous, but luckily, him getting so comfortable in our home so quickly made us feel a lot better about this whole process.

Kendra did our home check, we filled out adoption papers, and handed her a check for the adoption fee. She hung around a little bit to make sure Simba continued to stay comfortable, and because we didn't want Simba to feel like he was abandoned by Kendra and we didn't want him pacing all night long waiting for her, we made Kendra leave for a little while and meet back up with us at a mutual ground (Camp Bow Wow) so that we could walk Simba into our new home without her there. We wanted to minimize all of the stress and anxiety for him, as he is prone to getting scared and shutting down. And again, I think it was for the best. We walked him in, he jumped on the couch and found some of his toys again. Adoption day went as successful as I could have imagined! I am so glad he had no major shut down and still continues to be his laid back, silly self through this entire adjustment.


We look forward to sharing updates about our life together. It's been an adjustment for the both of us as well, but we couldn't imagine what our lives would be like without him! To think that if we never moved to Omaha, and if I never got the job at Camp Bow Wow, we never would have been owners of this amazing dog. He continues to make us laugh and has changed our lives for the better! We can't wait to have many, many more years with our boy!

Simba Comes Home Next Week!

We are in the middle of prepping to move on Friday, so I figured we'd update you now, since we may be offline for another week. One week until Simba gets to come home with us! We are so excited to welcome him into our life and officially call him our dog. We have been busy getting everything ready for him - from renters insurance, to id tags, to blankets and bowls. We've been slowly collecting things for him since we decided to adopt him a month and a half ago. Here's a few pictures of some things we have picked up over time for our new pup!

I made Simba a blanket so he doesn't ruin mine and Ben's :) We are loving the safari theme - fitting, since his name is Simba!

Simba's food and water bowls came in the mail the other day! We love them! They have a rubber ring on the bottom so his bowl doesn't move on the hard surface.

Simba's leashes and collars came in the mail recently and we are obsessed with them. We got a couple sets for different occasions and we figured it's good to have a few pairs on hand! Not to mention, we couldn't pick which one we liked between the two. If you're looking for some awesome leashes/collars, visit mazzyco.com - you won't regret it!

Simba is kind of a black sheep, so this collar fits him perfectly!

We also got his id tag in the mail from petco.com - one thing I love about this, is the id tag silencer. When we babysat him, I was so annoyed of the clinking noise from his tag and collar when he would move around our place. I'm so glad I found this - it will definitely minimize the noise. Not to mention, it glows in the dark too :) Awesome.

We still have a few more things to get, but they're all things we can get while we have him. Ben and I are so excited for the next chapter in our life and to have another companion around the house.

Before I post our next blog post next week after we adopt Simba, we want to give a shout out and a HUGE thank you to Simba's foster mom and my coworker, Kendra and her boyfriend Kramer. Kendra has been nothing but amazing through this whole process and has given us ease, advice, guidance and has been nothing but a lifesaver throughout this entire journey. Kendra and Kramer took Simba in back in May, right about the time I started at Camp Bow Wow and they have been incredible foster parents to Simba and have formed Simba into the amazing dog that he is today. I know that Simba is going to miss Kendra and Kramer so much, and will definitely miss their other 4 pooches - but if it weren't for them taking him in, he wouldn't be coming home with us next week. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for saving this dog and giving him a warm and loving place to call his temporary home. They say dogs never forget who save them, and I completely agree. Simba will always have a special place in his heart for Kendra and Kramer, and we will too. Thank you guys!

Kendra and Kramer

Kendra and Simba at camp

Simba with his foster brother and sisters (Kendra and Kramer's dogs)

And Ben and I would also like to throw out a HUGE thank you to the rescue AHeinz57 for rescuing him and trusting in Kendra and Kramer to be their foster parents. They are a wonderful organization and have a ton of animals up for adoption that need a loving home! I beg of you all, please do not shop from a pet store, or even a breeder. You are feeding money into puppy mills. Please ADOPT - there are so many animals in need of a loving home. You can get puppies and kittens from rescues and shelters. You are saving a life and doing a good thing for another life. That in itself is rewarding.


Next time we post on here, we will officially be dog owners! Wish us luck on our move in 2 days.

Love,
Ashley & Ben