Welcome Home, Remi!

By Jo Marshall
Certified Veterinary Technician at Pet Poison Helpline®

A few months ago, in my post Saying Goodbye, I wrote about the passing of our beloved Vizsla, Finn. I received so many wonderful and touching responses from the pet owning community and it was so healing for my family as we dealt with our loss and grief. So many of you encouraged us  to honor Finn’s memory by adopting another dog.  And admittedly, that was a very difficult process for us to start. I honestly did not feel like we were ready for another dog or would ever be ready for another dog. But after much coaxing from my son and reading all of the responses to my blog, I put in an application with the same wonderful rescue group that we adopted Finn from, Iowa Vizsla Rescue. It was more of a wait and see kind of an application and not so much a whole-hearted commitment. But I have always been a firm believer in the fact that the dog that you need or that needs you, always shows up at the right time and the right place to make it all work out for the best. Leeann at Iowa Vizsla Rescue has been so wonderful. She really understood our grief and how apprehensive I was at starting this whole process. We went back and forth on did we want an older dog or a younger dog, did we want a male or a female, etc . I quickly realized through our chats that things need to be different, and although we have always have had a male dog,  females are very different and might be a good change for us. We had no age preference but I like to train and potentially do some agility in the future so a youngish dog would likely be the best. And that is were we left it – waiting to see what would come about.

It did not take long for Leeann to let me know that she had an active puppy about to become available for adoption. Her owners had decided to re-home her due to time commitment issues with a very active puppy. In a nutshell, the details that I got were that she was a very busy, 10 month old female. After working out the logistics of getting her within a day’s driving distance for me, we drove to Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 3rd, 2014 and brought Remi home with us.

The first couple of weeks with this girl were a bit of a challenge, and that is putting it mildly! She had me doubting my abilities as a trainer (I have actively taught puppy classes and trained dogs for the better part of the past 25 years). She came into our house like a rocket and I seriously wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into! She was in constant motion! In Remi’s defense, I think that I had kind of forgotten what it is like to adopt a puppy. It is a difficult adjustment for both the puppy and the new owner. I had to remind myself that this puppy had just left the family that loved her and that she was a part of and had loved with all of her little heart. She was transported to me by someone that she had never met and then left with me, again someone she had never met. She then came to a home where she likely had completely different expectations of her, a new routine and schedule and a bossy little black cocker spaniel next door that wanted to be friends but was not quite sure how to do that with a puppy that could do 5 laps around her in the blink of an eye!

Well, we made it through those first few weeks.  And guess what – she has turned out to be the right dog for our family! This whirling little dervish has stirred things up a bit here, but she is total joy! She is the master sock thief and according to my son, he never leaves socks lay around, she somehow magically can get them off of his feet (nope – not buying that one)! She loves to play with the cats – well, I guess it is more like harassment. But never-the-less, they seem to enjoy slapping her face as much as she enjoys trying to dodge the slaps.  And best of all she is starting to understand the bossy little Cocker Spaniel next door and is gaining a doggie friend. She finally realizes that Edie is fun, but she has to take it down a notch or two during play time. She is getting the hang of the routine here and looks forward to going to the barn with me to feed horses and chickens. She is actually waiting at the door at chore times and when it is time for my son to take her for her daily morning run. She is the happiest little Vizsla and her greeting is more of an explosion of love and happiness than an actual greeting! We will always miss our boy, Finn, but this little girl has certainly filled an empty hole in our lives with her very busy and happy little attitude! We are so very grateful to have her and thank her previous family who gave her such a wonderful start and to Iowa Vizsla Rescue, you do a spectacular job matching families with dogs! You are 2 for 2 with our family.

We just celebrated Remi’s first birthday. I thought it would be fun to share a picture of her with her party hat on, enjoying the party!

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