Meet Toby. He's an eight-year-old Italian greyhound. I picked him up from The Animal Rescue Alliance (T.A.R.A.) yesterday after work.
He was turned over to the rescue group because his family split up due to divorce. I was hoping they'd bring some of his stuff, but all he had was his collar. Maybe he doesn't have any stuff, but you'd think they'd at least have brought some of his food and whatever clothes he wears when he goes out in the cold.
For now I'm just fostering him while we see how things go with our cats. If everything works out, I'll pay his adoption fee and keep him.
When I picked him up he was clearly upset at having been left behind and he was whining and looking for his people. Our first short car trip was from the kennel to my sister's house and Toby made it a challenge. Fortunately, all of the novelty started to wear him out and he calmed down for the trip to my house.
Obviously the first item on the agenda was to take him shopping. I went home to get the $5 PetSmart gift card I'd gotten at BlogPaws and look through the coupons I'd received. I knew there was at least one for free food.
We made a quick run through the pet store and I got him a harness, a retractable leash and a bag of food. I'm going to order him some Nulo food, partly because it's abundantly clear that he doesn't like the food I bought him and partly because he's noticeably overweight. Just look at the armpit chub in that photo.
The cats are less than thrilled. They're being pretty defensive and Velvet has already bopped him on the head once. Dr. Jones waited for him to lie down yesterday and then crept up behind to check him out.
Trillian has been making herself scarce and Xena is more interested in eating his food than dealing with him.
He slept through the night lying next to my legs and didn't wake up until I was nearly dressed. I took him with me on my daily 3.4 mile walk and he had more than enough energy to keep up.
I've been taking Toby outside pretty often because I don't know his preferred bathroom habits, but it seems that he's low-maintenance so far. I forgot to bring waste bags on our walk and I didn't end up needing one anyway.
Right now he's downstairs with a chew stick, but I'd probably better go check on him before I shower and head to work. As long as he and the cats can learn to coexist, I think he'll be a fine pet for us.
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