The Day We Adpoted Silas

On November first, Ethan and I met our dog. He was brought to us by his foster mom, a wonderful lady who obviously loves Silas very much, but her and her husband weren't ready to take on a third dog.

But let me back up and explain how we found my little guy.

Ethan and I knew we wanted a dog. We had talked about it a few months after we had started dating, where is started with little comments like, "I miss having a dog around," and "When Ambria and I move somewhere we can get a dog... mark my words," (this one was usually followed with a hearty fist shaking at the roof of the apartment where dogs were not allowed).

And then one day it was something more like, "When we get a dog..." in reference to Ethan and I co-parenting a little fur ball. And I knew he was committed. At this point in time we still had exchanged the "I love yous" but we were well on our way. Because even when we weren't saying it, it was the little things that said it for us.

So we planned this move to the house my mom and Adam rent, and I knew that not only was our desire for a dog something that we wanted, but we were in a neighborhood where if your neighbors know you have a dog, that's pretty much a good thing. (It's not a bad neighborhood by any means, it is just good when you live in the city to be like, HEY, DON'T BREAK IN HERE: BIG DOG.)

Naturally, I had already sort of looked on the internet at the Petsmart Charities link where you can look for adoptable pets in your area. I had a few criteria, of course. We had both discussed wanting a big dog, under a year old, and a mild temperament. (This last stipulation was my own. Ethan is a wonderful everything, but if he was a wolf in a wolf pack, he would be one of the submissive ones that helps all the other wolves not act like totally crazy psycho alpha males. I have seen first hand his asshole of a dog, who is a very sweet but domineering Labrador totally push his entire family around because he is so dominate.)

Lo and behold, I had found a few candidates. I had to scrub a few off my list. One was an adorable little black and white puppy that was a mastiff mix named Kong that I knew would be too big for Ambria to handle if she was by herself. Another was a sweet looking little blue dog, and that was because Ethan wanted a boy dog. I found a ten week old Newfoundland mix that I was a little crazy for, (Newfies are are dog I would just love to have) but I am not totally sure what all Ambria is allergic to, so I nixed him too.

Finally, I found Silas and Pita. Two brothers that were rescued from the basement of a drug dealers home, apparently forgotten long enough for them to be starved down to just bones.

Silas, when he was found was barely twenty pounds, and that was because he was just a big sized dog, not because he had ever eaten much of anything. He had a scar on his head and flank, and all over his legs. This leg Animal Control and the adoption agency that eventually procured him to believe that he had been a bait dog for dog fights.

Pita was his brother, and I can only assume that he was in a similar condition.

So I had found these two little brother with these sweet, soft faces, and I knew in my heart I wanted Silas, but I took pictures of both boys and sent them to Ethan. I was going to let him have the final decision because we are a team.

He texted me back saying that while Pita was obviously cute, he felt more kinship with little Silas. So I filed an application form and waited what seemed like forever to see if they would pick us to go through the adoption process for Silas.

Eventually I got a call from his foster mom and we talked for a good forty-five minutes. She thought we were a really good match for Silas, and we set up a week-long trial where we would take care of Silas, see how he fit in our family, and then give a final decision.

This is our first day. He is literally now like a third bigger. It is amazing how much he has grown.

Of course, I texted his foster mom back like two days later and told her she could put the paperwork through whenever. We loved this little guy. He was sweet, happy, and afraid of stairs.

He very solidly came into our family and our hearts like a little furry cannon ball.

 

This was the night we got him when we were teaching him to sit on command. He is just so handsome.

 This the first few days of having him. Ethan was tired from doing something, but Silas was still bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

 A few hours later though, he was asleep. This is his normal sleeping position.

 

This is basically four days after getting him, when he was like, "Sleeping on the couch is ah-maze-in'."

 We took him on his first hike before it was too cold, (and before the broken leg.).

 He was really hard to photograph on this bench. Whenever the camera wasn't on him he was wagging his tail. But every picture pretty much looks like he is trying to escape.

 Like this one, where his is actually really happy to be sitting with his papa, but looks terrified. They are still cute though.