Most of you know that I recently lost Whitley, a heart dog if ever there was one. Carter also really missed her, kept looking for her and was still mopey weeks later. Juni Moon, our Newf wasn’t about to cave and offer him anything close to what he needed. Nothing new in that department! Anyway, I was following some dog show results to see if a friends Afghan Hound finished her championship. Up pops a litter announcement for some Domino puppies, a color I have always loved in the breed. I ignored it, I told myself I wasn’t ready, although one puppy in particular kinda grabbed hold of my eye.
During this time I was also trying to get a senior Afghan Hound out of a rural pet adoption center where he had arrived via another shelter. Seeing an Afghan in a shelter is a very rare occurrence. For some reason his expression had really tugged at my heart when his photo randomly crossed a totally unrelated internet search. We drove to the shelter to pull him but they had just transferred him a day before to another rescue a few hours from here as no one wanted to adopt him. It did not look like it was going to work out pulling him through this particular rescue group that now had him either, although I made immediate contact. I figured he would be ok, since it was a legitimate rescue group, although something continued to nag at me.
Forward a couple of weeks and Carter was still mopey so I wrote inquiring about the puppies, expecting them all to be placed by now. She emailed back that she had 4 to choose from. I stalled again, still not sure, and hoping that Juni might allow Carter into her world. Nada. So a couple of weeks later I emailed once more and after some back and forth and a long phone conversation, KBJ and I decided to drive 4 hours to “just look”. When we got there, there was now only one available and it was the one that had originally caught my eye in the litter announcement. The Sire is from British Victoria Canada, and the mother from Sweden. Both are Best in Show dogs. I especially love a Domino colored Afghan and I have long admired the Swedish Afghan type. So “only look” became our puppy dog. He looked like the possum in the comic strip Pogo, and he also bounced around just like a pogo stick, so KBJ was leaning towards naming him Pogo. I however wanted to name him Elliott, after the lad in the E.T. movie because when we arrived home and introduced the puppy to Carter, the puppy screamed, and then Carter screamed (believe me, an Afghan can scream), and it went back and forth across the fence until Carter ran back into the house. It was straight out of the E.T. movie when the sister walked into Elliott’s bedroom surprised to see E.T. for the first time and screamed in terror. Same scene, different time. So puppy became Pogo Elliott and he has lived up to the name. One of the funniest, if not the funniest dog I have ever owned. It took a few weeks for each of them to not be afraid of each other, and now they are besties for the most part. Pogo Elliott is smart, mischievous and loving.
So then, after having filled out an application weeks before we got Pogo Elliott, and emailing with no response and weeks and weeks go by, we finally hear from this rescue that we can take this Afghan. We knew already he had a grade 3 heart murmur and needed additional dental work that they were supposed to already have had done, but at this point we just wanted him out of there to get his medical needs taken care of. We originally had planned to just get him out and work with Afghan Rescue. He remained in the back of my mind, even after we brought Pogo home. When we picked him up his condition had deteriorated and he was much worse than we expected. We knew about the heart murmur and oral fistula, but he came to us with ear, eye infections and emaciated. We were furious. So now we have another dog and we have gone from 2 to 4. Would you like to meet them?
Carter, still missing Whitley.
Here is the puppy photo that captured my attention. Notice the black markings. And what girl doesn’t dream about this kind of cat eye?
And here’s Juni Moon, doing what Juni Moon does best, sleep and eat. And complain when she doesn’t get to sleep or eat!
Pogo Elliott’s first morning in his new home. Notice how the black on his head disappeared? Typical Afghan. They often change color even into adulthood. You can see just a slight mask. I am hoping the dark color reappears.
We had to bathe Juni Moon that first morning, and Pogo jumped up on the bench Whitely and Carter liked to lounge together on, and tried to bite at the water from the hose.
He continued his day by munching on my hydrangeas and dragging and chewing on branches. He was and is still a chewer.
He tried his darnedest to engage Juni Moon. Juni was patient however.
Surprisingly, after about a week, Juni began to engage with him. We were gobsmacked!
Pogo Elliott thought, well, if you won’t play with me, then I will use you as a soft place to sit. Typical Newf, she allowed it.
It took Carter more than a week not to be afraid of this bold puppy, and he too began to play with him. Pogo Elliott was always respectful, and never tried to be boss puppy.
Playing soon went to zooming, and oh my goodness, do they zoom.
And they chase each other around the hydrangeas. They are incredibly agile and fast.
Pogo Elliott is a bit faster than Carter, but often Pogo turns and chases Carter.
And here Pogo is looking like a possum. I can here you laughing. It’s ok. He looks like a possum.
Pogo has denuded all the flowers from the bottoms and middle of the hydrangeas. He has also decimated my hostas in the dog yard pots and a couple of daylilies. Hopefully he will be over his chewing stage and next year they will remain just fine.
Here is the old boy we rescued. You can kinda see how underweight he is, even for an Afghan, with no muscle. He was wobbly, and clearly not feeling well, yet displayed a noble essence.
Our vet agreed he shouldn’t have surgery until we got a good deal of weight on him. I had no problem getting him to eat, and he quickly gained almost ten pounds. We got the ok for his surgery to repair an oral fistula, and had already scheduled a date with a canine dental specialist.
He just ate and slept most of the time, but was getting stronger little by little. We gave him a new name, Graeson.
Graeson is most likely nine or ten years old.
Carter immediately took to him, and Graeson allowed, even welcomed his presence.
We went to a canine dental surgeon, and he had the repair. They also found another infected tooth that they pulled and a couple other teeth that needed pulling and then stitches. This is on top of the teeth pulled when he was at the adoption center. The fistula part of the surgery failed almost immediately, not uncommon. We had it done a second time, made a softer collar for him that fit and stayed on, and kept him confined again, yet the second repair also failed. Our vet says we can manage it medically going forward . Rescue often is not for the faint of heart or pocketbook.
And possum puppy provided us with much comedic relief, and boy we needed it. We were exhausted and concerned about Graeson.
Really Mom, I didn’t touch those flowers, they came off the stems all by themselves. Really, they did.
Gotta love their facial monkey fur. He will have that for months until his coat changes over to an adult one. It is so odd, they are born smooth all over, then grow puppy fur on the face, only to lose it.
I said after decades, I wasn’t going to do any more rescue work. But there you have it, Graeson feels like he has always been ours. We are now a happy 4 dog family, although I will be so glad when Pogo Elliott is finished teething!! I will always miss Whitley, but there is a wonderful, yet different rhythm once again in this home.
I hope that you all survived Hurricane Florence. We were supposed to take a direct hit, but it moved south, and we got rain, and more rain, but with luck, no damage. My heart aches for these NC folks, just now beginning to recover from Hurricane Matthew. I hope you all can find it in your hearts to do something, no matter how small the gesture, to aid in their recovery. Same goes for those in Puerto Rico still suffering one year later.One way to help? Food, or lack of, is a huge issue during disasters, and this man, Chef Jose Andres is my hero. Consider donating to his foundation. You can read about him here. I have seen him speak on news shows and read about him, and he has such a huge heart. An immigrant from Spain, he gives back in such an extraordinary way. World Central Kitchen
Thank you for making WH&G a part of your day. laters, charisse
for a short video of the boys romping see Pogo Carter Juni Romp 2018_08_12
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I absolutely loved this post and know how much you are still missing Whitley theough all your posts. My heart was so happy that you rescued Graeson. I have an older Irish Setter who is my heart dog and hope I will be able to get a puppy before anything happens to him.
I love that your home is now filled up with joy.
Thank you Barbara. I will always miss Whitley, she was one in a million. I am so glad that you also have a heart dog. When I was showing, I had a neighbor who showed top Irish setters, always one of my favorite breeds. We often traveled to shows together, trained puppies and evaluated each others puppies. Great memories. The lessons the dogs teach and the gifts they give to us are incredible if we take the time to observe and learn. We are, as you said, filled with joy with the new additions, along with sleepless times, more dog baths, but laughter that makes it all worthwhile.
Such a heartwarming story. Puppy is adorable. You certainly have enough room in your heart for more dogs. They couldn’t ask for a better home. Judy
Thanks Judy. Possum puppy keeps us on our toes. KBJ is doing most of the training with this boy, and boy does he need it! Although I love puppies, but I do look forward to him becoming a bit less of one. I have a feeling he is going to entertain us for years to come!
I’m so happy to read how you have now four loving dogs in your family. this story touched my heart. So thankful there are people out there like you all. Blessings to you!
Thank you! It is a bit crazy now with a puppy and a senior dog, but they keep me moving and bring such fun to the house. I think my Whitley would have approved.
Wonderful story. I’m.so sorry the second surgery failed. I did not know you got Pogo. What a beauty. Glad he’s brought laughter and levity to your lives. Love his name.
Thanks. I think Whitley would have been the first one to welcome Graeson and Pogo. I do miss her ability to quietly teach them manners though! Bummer about the surgery for sure, but at least he is no longer in pain with the other teeth issues also having been taken care of at the same time. Whatever time he has left he will at least be with us in a permanent home. He and Juni are the same age, but such different personalities.
How amazing of you to bring these beautiful dogs into your loving home. You sure do have your hands full! Praying that all goes well and that they add incredible joy and healing to your heart. I have an uncle in Canada who also had a white dog named pogo. 😊
Both KBJ and I marvel at how we went from two to three to four in a blink of an eye. Foolish? probably; happy we did it? absolutely. When I showed dogs I had more than 4, and became quite adept at caring for them, and fortunately still have a large room dedicated to their needs, which makes it sooo much easier, especially with all the rain we are still getting after a water soaked summer. It would be difficult to do this however, without KBJ participating and enjoying it as well. Keeps one young though!