Ranger Danger

Dogs, Reflections

It’s been nearly four weeks since Ranger became part of our family, so I thought I would share a little about how that is going.

I’ll start by addressing the title of this post – it may be a little misleading and make you wonder what the heck kind of animal did we adopt. The truth is that there is one real danger in Ranger and that is that he will steal your heart and make you fall hopelessly in love with him.

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Here is how it happened to us.

He started by looking at us with those captivating puppy dog eyes that are framed by his adorable floppy ears, and when we look at and/or speak to him he wags his tail in sheer joy. Then, as if he hadn’t already won us over, once we sit down to relax he bounds up in a lap and insists on some cuddle time.  At  times he will even bring his tennis ball and ask to play a game of fetch. Is there anyone who could resist such love?

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His approach with Trooper is different of course. Instead of using their eyes to get to know each other dogs use their noses. Ranger will sniff Trooper then stand nicely and let Trooper sniff him as if proving to Trooper that he really is a good boy. He will also sometimes walk up to Trooper and begin licking his face – that is just so cute. Ranger likes to engage Trooper in play so he will jump toward Trooper and bark then jump back or begin sprinting from one end of the house to the other trying to get Trooper to chase him. Trooper plays along by trying to tag Ranger and huffing or barking at him as he runs past. Although Trooper doesn’t have nearly the energy that he use to, and is not able to keep up with the pup, it is good to see him playing along. The barking during playtime can make it sound like they are fighting, but as long as their tails are wagging we know it is all in fun.

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Ranger really has come along way since that first day we brought him home, when he didn’t know that he had to go outside to go to the bathroom; he continually put his feet up on the counter when I was working in the kitchen; he begged for our food when we were eating; and my husband found himself making a 4:30 a.m. trip to the store to buy him a raw hide bone.

I think it’s been a couple of weeks now since he has had any “accidents” in the house and as long as we make sure he gets out at regular intervals I don’t feel like I have to be watching his every move. He has learned that he gets fed at his dish, so begging for our food does him no good. He will still put his paws on the edge of the counter sometimes but I get the feeling it’s because he just wants to know what I am doing and perhaps he even wants to help. LOL!

I think it’s been about a week now since we stopped putting him in his crate over night. He now sleeps in his own bed right next to my husbands side of our bed. He settles into his bed when we go to bed or sometimes even earlier, and he sleeps through the night. Even when we are up earlier Ranger has been sleeping until at least 6:00 a.m. If he does get up around 6:00 it is just to go outside to go potty and then he will go back to bed until it is almost time to go to the farm to open up the chicken coop and go for his morning walk. GOOD BOY RANGER! 🙂

While there is much more to tell I decided to keep this short so I could get it published.  You see it seems that each day Ranger is displaying new behaviors that we are happy with, and since there is still a lot for him to learn you can look forward to more puppy tails tales in the future.

Thanks for reading.

24 thoughts on “Ranger Danger”

  2. Oh I can see how he won your hears. So good he and Trooper get on well. Such a clever boy to be getting the house toileting rules under control. It is always hard to know how things will go. My two are pretty amazing I have fostered other dogs, and had runaway dogs stay overnight here, as well as foster kittens and cats.

    Perfectly understandable re not certain it was the right decision. It is a time of so much change for all involved. He sounds like a sweet heart all right.

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      1. I kept one puppy as he (Busby) had hip issues, and I had him for 12 months so it was never going to happen. I was always OK with giving them to their furrever homes. It sure does change your life and I am so happy it worked out so well for you all.

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  6. This is a sweet post Ruth – Ranger has come a long way and I like that your husband went to the store at 4:30 a.m. to get Ranger a rawhide bone … Ranger has made a permanent mark on your heart and it did not take very long, did it?

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    1. So are we Michelle. There were actually some incidents during the first couple weeks that made us question whether we had made the right decision but it seems like every day is getting a little better.

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