Let me disgress a bit and tell you a little about Dusty. Many years ago my husband and I were looking to add a dog to our lives after our female poodle mix had passed away. At the time, Petfinder was around, but nothing like it is today. Still, I ventured onto Petfinder and found there was a rescue not far from us that had a small, male poodle mix. I kind of wanted a female again but it was more important to us to get a rescue dog, than to worry about the sex so I excitedly made an appointment to see him. When I got there I found there had been an error on petfinder and this guy was in fact a 45 pound standard poodle mix. When I met him though and got to see his gentle personality I knew he was for our family. Physically he wasn't what I had in my mind's eye but his personality won me and my husband.
After we had Dusty awhile (the rescue called him Pierre and we changed his name to Dusty) we realized that he had part of his tongue missing and had many chipped and cracked teeth on the right side of his mouth. The vets guessed that he had probably been running with his tongue out and was hit by a car. Sure enough as he aged we could see the effects of the arthritis on the right side of his body where he had likely been hit. He walked slower and slower each year and eventually couldn't make it up and down our stairs.
Despite all this it didn't affect who he was. It didn't affect his great personality and it certainly didn't affect how much we loved him.
Thinking about Dusty reminds me that really what matters most is that we pick our canine companions based on how they will fit into our family. The personality matters more than the teeth or the hair or the arthritis. The compatibility, the companionship and the joy they bring are are worth the most.
Ralphie is housebroken and continues to do well. He is playful and does like his toys. He has mistaken some of the girls' stuffed animals for toys (I can't blame him) but he quickly drops them when I tell him "no." He does a little "happy dance" when it's time to go for a walk or time to eat. No barking, just a little prancing and turning. Very cute. He is a great guy. My male dog, Miles, continues to give Ralphie a hard time (growling, posturing) but Ralphie is doing okay with the bully in the house. Miles does this with other male dogs too so it's not Ralphie.
He is great about going in the crate and I've been telling him "go kennel" and he easily gets in. He's not a mischief maker so I bet I could leave him out but because I don't trust Miles to be nice I crate Ralphie.
Here is a video of Ralphie sharing some kisses with my daughter.
