Road trip to add a new puppy to our family
I’m not nearly finished showing you the places I visited on my epic BC road trip, but yesterday our family expanded, and I’d like to introduce our new puppy, Tucker, to you before going back to the trip.
This was the photo that started the process. We’ve looked at a lot of dogs over the past few weeks, but none spoke to us. Cathy saw “Sunfire” on the Yukon Animal Rescue Network (YARN) Facebook page, and got “the feeling”, then phoned me. I had the same response – this was the dog we wanted to join our family. I filled out an application immediately, and sat back and waited.
Approval for the adoption was delayed a bit, as a woman had said that she wanted him. Luckily for us, she never sent an application in, and on Saturday we got a call that he was ours.
Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, I was on the road early so I could make the 850-kilometer (528-mile) drive to the shelter in Watson Lake and be back in time to have Thanksgiving dinner in Whitehorse with our best friends. At 07:45, I crossed the Teslin River bridge on the Alaska Highway.
Fifteen minutes later, a colourful sunrise brightened up my day even more as I approached the village of Teslin.
Sunfire with his brother Cassidy. Cassidy had been adopted a few days before by a family from Whitehorse who was waiting for someone to offer to bring him to Whitehorse. I was happy to be able to do that for them.
At 12:20, we were all ready to get into the Tracker and make the trip to new lives – completely new lives for the puppies, and an even better life for me and my family.
The boys weren’t entirely happy with what was going on, and made their concerns clearly heard! 🙂
It didn’t take long before the hum of the tires put the puppies to sleep, and I could enjoy the drive in peace. I had the rear-view mirror set to keep an eye on them.
Transporting them together no doubt made the trip easier for all of us, as they had each other for comfort. They slept cuddled up in various ways for much of the trip.
Just before 3:00, I stopped at the Morley River recreation area to give the puppies some water, dinner and a run.
At 8 weeks, these may be the youngest puppies I’ve ever taken care of, and they were such fun! They have very different personalities – Cassidy is more cuddly and vocal, while his brother is more adventurous. One of my grand-daughters, Kylie, had suggested that we name our puppy “Tucker”. Cathy and I immediately liked the name, and by the time we left Morley River, Tucker was his name.
I phoned Cassidy’s new family from Teslin, and they agreed to meet me at our friends’ home to get him. They were there when I arrived just after 5:30, and I said good-bye to the puppy now called Emmott.
Tucker was a big hit immediately – he was the perfect guest except for one little accident.
Bella getting to know her new puppy. As expected, she wasn’t too sure what to make of him, but both she and Monty were great with him. What a superb way to celebrate Thanksgiving – a wonderful dinner with close friends, celebrating Tucker’s arrival.
Last night was much easier than I expected it might be, as it was probably the first night that Tucker had ever been alone. There was a lot of noise from the kennel beside the bed, but it didn’t last long. When he fussed at 02:00, I took him outside and he peed immediately. At 06:00, he fussed again, and got both jobs done right away on our short walk outside.
This morning, we had our first family walk, and it went well beyond anything we could have hoped for. Bella had been great with him all morning, playing with and disciplining him, and even trying let him nurse from her at one point. She’s very quickly getting to know how hard she can play with him.
Monty’s only limit is when Tucker jumps at his face – that gets a growl. As you seen from Monty’s posture in this photo, though, he’s accepting him.
Our new family. After me helping him onto the lower deck when he couldn’t make the leap, Tucker climbed the stairs to the upper deck himself.
When Tucker couldn’t get down the stairs and cried for a minute, Bella went up and guided him down. This is going to be so wonderful for all of us. We have no idea how long Monty has left – it isn’t long, though, and Tucker will help us all through these difficult days as well as the journey ahead.
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