We recently had a new dog… for 24 hours. Lest you think we’re impulsive people who don’t think through our decisions, let me explain.
We saw Olive, a 5 month old Schnoodle (Schnauzer Poodle mix) at an adoption event at the Plainfield Pet Supplies Plus on July 6th.
She was the sweetest little thing – we were able to pick her up and she cuddled with us immediately. The rescue had us take her for a little walk around the store but we ultimately decided not to adopt. I was worried her bark might bother my ear* (there was a blurb about her on their website stating she had an unusual high-pitched bark).
* Ever since my sickness in 2019-2020 my right ear has been sensitive to certain frequencies, usually in the high-pitch range, which is ironic since supposedly I’ve lost hearing in the higher frequencies which is why I have high-frequency tinnitus in that ear. When something triggers it, I feel a fluttering in that ear and then if it continues the ear will start crackling and popping. It’s not painful, per se, but very uncomfortable and it’s not something I want to experience day in and day out. It has limited my ability to work, even from home, as talking on the phone is quite often a trigger. It sucks. But anyway…
I kept thinking about Olive all week and looking at her pictures. I really liked how friendly and cuddly she was which is what I’d like in our next dog. I found out she would be at the next adoption event in Tinley Park on the 13th so we went out to see her again. We also took a look at the other dogs up for adoption through other rescues but they were all big breeds and we definitely want a small non-shedding dog.
So anyway, she was there and as cute and friendly as ever. I explained to her foster my interest and how before heading out to the event I had filled out an application just in case, but I was hesitant due to my ear condition. It should be noted at this point I’d heard her bark but within the confines of the pet store at the first event, and outside at the second one, and nothing was triggered in my ear. I thought maybe I was worrying for nothing.
That being said, I asked the foster if they would consider letting us foster her to see if her bark would bother me and she said they don’t transfer dogs from one foster to another. I was disappointed, but understood. In fact, we were getting ready to leave when the woman in charge of the rescue came by and recognized us. She thought it was a great sign we were back and was excited thinking we were going to adopt. I explained my ear condition and she offered us the ability to take her for a week to see how she’d work out. She explained she rarely did such a thing, but had a good feeling about us. She asked me to fill out their foster application (I had filled out an adoption one previously), which I did on my phone.
While I was filling out the foster application, unbeknownst to me, she called our vet to check on us. She came back and said “your vet adores you!” which was a nice feeling. Everyone was so nice, and we ended up taking Olive home with us. Even though we had a harness and seatbelt connector to keep her secure in the car, I opted to ride in the back seat with her, which in hindsight was a bad decision because we quickly learned at home she’s a stage 5 clinger and would bark whenever she couldn’t be with someone. And, sadly, that bark was triggering my ear. Had I rode up-front she likely would have started barking right away, setting off my ear, and we would have turned around and brought her back, thus not denying other people the ability to meet her. But how were we to know? I just wanted to make her feel comfortable. She laid in my lap the entire ride and melted my heart.
On the way home we stopped at Pet Supplies Plus to buy food, treats, and a toy. We carried her since she prefers that anyway (and only weighs 7.5 lbs). I had asked what food they were feeding her and it was a Pet Supplies Plus exclusive brand, so we got that, some freeze-dried chicken treats (they said she loves chicken) and beef training treats, along with a Kong fluffy duck toy she seemed to like when I showed it to her. During the drive I noticed she was farting and boy did it smell something awful! Wookie never farted in all the years we had her. I can’t help but think it’s the food Olive is on because I didn’t see the AAFCO statement on the bag that my vet advised to look for. Had we kept her, I would have slowly transitioned her to a different brand of food, but I digress. We stopped to see if she needed to poop, but she only peed, so we continued home.
We weren’t prepared to actually come home with a dog that day so we had to get out all the supplies. Joe installed the gate that separates the kitchen from the laundry room / garage entrance and put up the crate with a playpen surrounding it in the kitchen. Then he put up free-standing fencing for the living room area for when she was out with us playing and whatnot. I took her outside for some walks and one of the neighbors met her and said she thought she had good energy haha. Shortly after we came in from one of her walks she pooped on the floor. It was rather wet and very stinky! Ugh. But that’s par for the course with a puppy that hasn’t been potty trained. The foster said she’d been using the bathroom on towels which I’m not sure is a good idea or not. We had hoped to potty pad train her like we did with Wookie, but since she had never seen such a thing she opted to lay in it vs her crate when we put her in the playpen. She also would scream bloody murder which is when my ear started going crazy. Even if we were upstairs we could hear her clear as day. I remember when we’d put Wookie in the playpen at night she might cry a little but it was so soft we actually had to buy a baby monitor (this was before we had any security cameras) to keep an eye on her.
At some point she also peed on the rug but that’s totally my fault for not taking her out after playing. She also turned out to be quite the land shark! She would follow us and nip at our ankles and jump up at us (and she could jump pretty high for such a small dog, so we had to put a gate on the other end of the kitchen in case she ended up jumping out of the playpen at some point) and bite our hands, or try to grab the cuff of my capris. If you picked her up she’d immediately go from devil to angel, though, although I realize that was the wrong way to handle the situation, but when you’re in the thick of being “attacked” by a puppy with no bite inhibition you’re not thinking logically and about training. I kept joking she was like a Sour Patch Kid – first she was sour, then she was sweet. What she really was was overstimulated and tired, but she was reluctant to nap even when we tried to enforce it in the playpen. In the afternoon she would eventually calm down and nap in the potty pad, but that night was a different story.
We spent some time out on the patio in the evening and Olive happily napped in my lap the entire time.
Interestingly enough, we put her in the playpen and let her see us leave so we could go to the grocery store around 9 pm Saturday night, and she only vocalized briefly before settling down. It was a whole different story that night when we attempted to go to sleep. I tried leaving a light on and some music playing softly, but she just wouldn’t stop having a fit and we were really concerned our neighbors could hear it, so we both went downstairs and hung out with her in the living room. Joe insisted I go upstairs to sleep so eventually I did, but I had a hard time sleeping because I felt so sad knowing she wasn’t going to work out. I’m sure the freaking out and biting stuff would be resolved with training, but I couldn’t control the pitch of her bark and how it made my ear feel, so that was a deal breaker.
We all only got a few hours of rest that night. That morning I took Olive for two walks, one in which I noticed she was already getting the hang of walking on a leash. If I encouraged her to keep going by saying “let’s go, you can do it!”, she’d keep walking instead of going off to smell everything. The night before I had to be careful where I let her walk because it had rained in the afternoon and she wanted to drink from the puddles, even the very small ones that formed in little divets in the sidewalk.
We played with her until sometime after 10 am when I called her foster to let her know what was going on. She liked chasing the little green hexagon ball that I would roll across the floor. It was cute how she’d bounce toward it and then practically pounce on it like a cat. She’d bring it close to me, but not to me. Instead she’d plop down on the floor and mouth it.
I was worried the foster would be upset with us, but she was completely understanding and we arranged to drop Olive off at her house in Bolingbrook. Once again Olive laid on my lap the entire ride. I told her I was sorry she wasn’t going to be joining our family and that she was a good puppy, and kissed her on the head.
The foster answered the door with the cutest little maltipoo puppy in her arms. Apparently this puppy was Olive’s playmate, which makes me wonder when the foster said Olive was good in a crate, if she didn’t mention with another dog. I’m only speculating here, of course, because I don’t know for sure what Olive’s setup was like in the foster’s home. She could very well have been left alone in a crate and was good in it there because she was used to it and eventually would have been the same with us. We’ll never know.
We gave the foster all the things we bought for Olive, kinda like a donation. I guess we could have kept the training treats, but I wasn’t sure when we might end up with another dog, so I didn’t want to chance them going to waste. Later that day we also made a $100 donation to their rescue through their website. I felt incredibly guilty taking Olive home for only a day, but I also knew my ear wasn’t going to magically get used to her bark. It doesn’t work that way. Hell, no doctor has really been able to help with it, so I have to work around it as best I can.
I’m so grateful they were so understanding and accommodating to my unique situation. I don’t take the idea of adopting a dog lightly, but I can’t really think of another way to determine if they are going to work with my ear condition. Luckily Wookie rarely vocalized in a pitch that bothered it, usually only when she was extremely worked up over wanting to go with us on a car ride but thinking we weren’t taking her (even though we actually were, because if we were going out without her we’d tell her “mommy and daddy are going to the store” and she knew not to get excited).
On the way home from dropping Olive off I felt so sad. I really miss having a dog and was so excited about the prospect of having one that was both dog and people friendly because Wookie was neither. I loved Wookie immensely, don’t get me wrong, but I relished the idea of bringing Olive to my friend’s house to play with her dog, or taking Olive to dog events, or even just being able to stop and talk to my neighbors walking their dogs, all of which was not possible with Wookie.
We stopped for Culvers on the way home and after eating cleaned up the house. In the span of 24 hours it looked like a war zone. I realized that maybe getting a puppy isn’t a good idea and we should look for older dogs. I wasn’t looking at adults previously because I was worried it would mean less overall time with them and it was traumatizing enough losing Wookie at the age of only 7. But I guess that’s a risk you take with any pet – you have no idea what illness they may develop or when.
I decided I don’t want a puppy because I hated having all the stuff in the kitchen and the gates up everywhere and constantly worrying they are going to have an accident. I’m hoping the dog we eventually adopt will already be housebroken and non-destructive so none of those things are necessary.
I also do not want a breed that sheds at all. We didn’t think Olive shed until we kept finding little tufts of black fur here and there. I think that must come from the Schnauzer side since Poodles don’t shed. I don’t even like Schnauzers because I find their beards unattractive. Since Olive is mostly all black and a mix I wasn’t as worried she’d look like a typical Schnauzer when she was older. Although after taking a photo of her and seeing the bottom part of her muzzle was brown, I realize I might be wrong.
I would have grown to love that, though, had we kept her. I really think everything else would have worked out had it not been for that god awful ear-piercing bark which according to Olive’s foster is common with Schnauzers. So now we know to stay away from that breed overall.
I was reading a thread on Reddit where someone who used to work at a doggie daycare said that a bark is unique to the individual dog and not necessarily the breed, so that complicates things as that means even if we find the breed we desire most, which is a Yorkie btw, we might have to do another in-house trial to see if they work out. Luckily the woman in charge of the rescue is ok with that, so it might just be a matter of time before I fall in love with another dog.
Despite the whirlwind weekend of good and bad, I miss Olive. I cried Sunday night thinking about having to return her. And thinking about Wookie and how even though she had some undesirable traits, I still would bring her back in a heartbeat if I could. I miss her so much and cry over her daily, even more now that when she first passed away. It really sucks losing a pet that was such an intregal part of the family.
Update (07/21) – Olive was adopted today by an older couple who already have a small dog. I think she’ll be really happy in that environment. If we had a house with a yard I would be more open to having two dogs. Maybe someday.