Introducing Ruby Sue, Rescue Dog One of Two

Our demure girl, Rika, set the doggy bar really high!

I need to preface this post by saying that the first dog Phil and I adopted together was The. Sweetest. Dog. Ever. She was calm, quiet, gentle, and rarely barked. When we picked her out, she was in an outdoor kennel with her brother from the same litter. As we approached them, the brother jumped on top of the dog house, put his ears back flat against his head, and barked at us really loudly. The sister, on the other hand, sat there grinning at us and wagging her tail. Phil and I looked at each other and announced, "We'll take that one!" She was a Norwegian Elkhound and we named her Rika, which means "friendly and approachable" in the Norwegian language. Rika was with us for ten and a half wonderful years, and when she passed away, my heart was so empty that it literally hurt.

After nearly two years of begging and pleading with Phil and regularly sending him petfinder.com listings of adorable, pathetic dogs in need of rescue, he finally caved. We had loved the Norwegian Elkhound breed, so I had looked into rescues and shelters that might have a dog that was at least partially an Elkie. Finally, I came across one that sounded great. The listing said she had been a stray when she was found, and because of the way she reacted to men, in particular, they were pretty sure she had been abused at some point in her life. She was estimated to be almost two years old, weighed around 40 pounds, and she was part Elkie. She needed a loving home like ours where she could feel safe. I was sold.

I ended up driving two hours from home to pick her up, and if it hadn't been for that, I probably would have taken one look at her, turned around and said, "Um, not what I was expecting, but thank you anyway." As it were, I had been in the car for a long time, had gotten lost twice, and was just relieved to have finally made it, so, when I walked in and she was more like 55 pounds and was jumping and pulling on the end of her leash and was barking the loudest bark I had ever heard, I was hesitant but determined. After all, I just knew that it was more nurture than nature that made dogs be good pets (because, obviously we were awesome doggy parents and had been fully responsible for making Rika the awesome dog she had been). I convinced myself it would all be fine, and I lead her to the car and let her hop in the backseat like Rika had always done.

On the two-hour ride home she barked in my ear the entire time, ate the travel trash can and 90% of the trash that had been in it, chewed through her leash, and peed on the floor... twice. OMG, what had I gotten us into?!

I wasn't willing to admit defeat just yet, so when I got home, I let her off her frayed leash and showed her to our fenced backyard. She ran like the wind, circling the yard, darting up and down the steps to the deck, jumping and twirling and leaping with joy. When the kids got home from school, she ran over to meet them and introduce herself, and she did just fine. The kids were thrilled. I was right after all. She HAD needed us, and perhaps we even needed her. It was going to be okay.

Like the wind!

Owen, Phil and Natalie meeting the new dog.

Then she knocked Owen over, scared Natalie up into the tree fort, and jumped in the pond. The OMG-what-had-I-gotten-us-into feeling returned full force.

In the goldfish pond!

Over the course of the next few days, it followed that same pattern. She was fine for a while and then she'd do something totally crazy. What the hell? This dog was NOTHING like what I had expected or wanted. She was NOTHING like Rika. She barked a lot (often at nothing in particular), she NEVER held still, and she completely obliterated anything with stuffing in it.

 

We ended up naming the beast Ruby Sue, after a character in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" because they expressed many of the same qualities--brown eyes, kind of cute but kind of homeless-looking, and no social tact whatsoever.

One of the many iconic scenes from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

I really struggled with what to do. This dog was not what I had expected at all.  I cried. I cried a lot, actually, because instead of filling the hole that Rika's passing had left behind, this new dog just made it even worse. Truthfully, I wanted to give her back, and so did Phil. Every time I thought that Ruby Sue was starting to calm down, she'd chew on something else, or jump on one of us, or knock something over. However, she already had a new name, and a crate, and food, and a few toys, and the kids would be absolutely crushed if she didn't stay, and we'd made a commitment, so we kind of had to keep her. Maybe all she needed was more time to get used to us. After all, we had proven we were awesome doggy parents before. She probably just needed some more nurturing and then she'd be just fine.