I might be certifiably insane. My sweet husband is willingly on this ride with me, so he may be insane as well.  Yesterday, was our 10 year wedding anniversary. Ten years have flown by, and it’s been pretty good, even with some challenges.  We’ve been so busy, we didn’t really pay much attention to this milestone in our marriage. There have been so many others.  Neither of us had even bothered to buy a gift to commemorate the occasion.

That was about to change. I received an email earlier in the day from a friend that had rescued a surrendered bulldog. She was not going to be able to keep him, so she put out the call to find him a suitable home.  His story is sad and because we don’t know all the details, I am trying not to be judgmental. I’m failing miserably but in summary, the previous owners couldn’t handle him and had surrendered them to their vet to be put down.  I’m not sure why they didn’t seek to rehome him, but euthanizing him would’ve been a terrible mistake. Fortunately, he’s been rescued. Now he’s in need of a new ‘furever’ home.

I forwarded this email to my dear hubby, Matt, mostly to see if he knew someone who’d want the pup.  I really didn’t think he’d be interested, as we already have two dogs, which gave us man on dog defense. Did we really want to upset the careful balance we had going? Turns out, Matt was interested in this fellow.  Ruh roh! Insanity building.
We talked about it. This would mean we’d be back up to three dogs and while we’ve done that before, it can be a challenge. However, we have the crates, the bowls, the water pails and everything else needed, so why not try this? Of course, it would all depend on how he gets along with Annie and Coal.  Adding a new addition of any kind – pet, baby, etc – always has pitfalls and cautions involved. So if we do this with our eyes wide open, maybe we’ll all be ok.

You see, Coal is very territorial. He is an Alpha male and there are 3 things he’s protective about: food, toys and me. I’m momma and to him that means I’m his momma only.  I can tell when he feels slighted in the attention department.  His pout is even cute. He gets special one on one time with me to make up for it.  While I love all my dogs equally and with all my heart, Coal will always be my special pup. He rescued me and his determined affection was, and still is, balm for a broken heart.

Annie is a wild card. She got along famously with Tank before he passed.  She loved him and he adored her. Her relationship with her daddy, Coal, was a struggle at first, but it evolved over time and is now amicable. Thankfully!  But she’s in heat right now.  While she has learned to stand up for herself, she is definitely not an Alpha dog, which is good. You can only really have one Alpha.  But I don’t know how she will react to a new dog. This pushes her farther down the chain in terms of being the top dog. Being top dog in our house comes with some special privileges, which Coal may be more likely to be granted now.

We had to meet this new boy to fully consider this change.  He’s 2 ½ years old and in pretty good health, although a bit undernourished. He’s beautiful, if not quite up to the bulldog standard. That’s ok as we have no plans to do anything more than just love him.   He greeted us with an enthusiastic butt-wagging and lots of nudges for attention. He had me at hello.  One look in his eyes and I knew without a doubt that we’d have to try and make it work. He deserves to be as loved and spoiled as Annie & Coal. In some ways, this will be like adding a puppy to the mix again. We’ll have to make sure he knows to potty outside, what our family routine is, etc.  We’ve done this with four dogs before, with some success, so I feel pretty certain we can do it for this one, too. Then again, I’ve thought that before and been a little caught off guard.

Oh, and we renamed the new dog.  I didn’t like the old one – just didn’t suit him and it was after a former football player that I cannot stand. Because of his coloring, which is a light fawn brindle, and his stance, which is taller than most bulldogs, we rechristened him Patton. Like the General.  A fighter for sure.

Why are we certifiable for doing this?  Timing. Adding Patton to our home could not come at a busier time.  This is the weekend before my dad arrives for a visit. That means we will be in whirling dervish mode cleaning the house like mad. Then there’s Annie.  She is in heat, with Coal is panting after her wherever she goes.  Adding a new dog to the mix and trying to get him assimilated while all this is going on is pure madness. Pretty sure being recently neutered probably won’t quell his interest in Annie. But, that is our lives. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t expect this to go smoothly; like any major change, there will be bumps and blips. I just know that we owe it to all three of them to work hard at making this successful.

I like to think of Patton joining our family as we gave each other the gift of love on our 10 year anniversary.

Welcome to the crazy, Patton! We hope you’ll stay awhile!