While it may not be travel or wildlife, there was a 3-hour round trip to pick up this sweet little puppydog, and he's certainly going to be an adventure!
After much discussion, hounding of shelter sites, and even meeting a few sweet rescue dogs back in Nevada, we decided to expand our family circle, once settled in our new town. This precious little one(ish)-year-old nugget was available by some miracle, and I shot over the mountains toward the Grand Tetons to scoop him up as soon as I could get our adoption application filled out! Meet the third member of our little family...
Blazing a Trail Home
He was found as a stray in Riverton with no collar or microchip, spent the night with his rescuer, was entrusted to a shelter, was never claimed by any previous owners, got transported to Jackson, had his neuter surgery, spent the night with a foster, and then we brought him all the way back over the mountains to the 20-degree weather in Dubois. Needless to say, the poor baby had quite a time of it, but he's a real trooper.
A Perfect Fit
At our meet and greet he was friendly and confident, on the drive back he slept like a little angel, and at our new home he has been so loving, well-mannered, and playful...I am nothing short of impressed by his resilience and zest for life and love! He truly deserves a forever home that will give him stability, affection, and adventure, and we intend to do everything in our power to do just that.
A dog, by any other name...
After quite a bit of deliberation and throwing name ideas around from various movies, constellations, and even Egyptian gods, we settled on short and to the point: Blaze. His little floof of a tail is orange underneath and black on top and curves just like a flame, especially when he's wagging it while sitting down. When the term "trail blazer" popped up in conversation, it just seemed right.
It's a Dog's Life
After giving him a week or two to settle in without too much stress or unnecessary change, we took our rambunctious puppy to the dog park for the first time. Oh, the excitement! Check out the before and after...
Considering a fur baby?
If you are thinking about bringing an animal into your life, please consider providing love and safety to one who already needs it, through adoption. There are shelters in every state overflowing with sweet babies who need someone caring and responsible to rescue them. We found our puppydog on Pet Finder, which often displays many local shelter animals, and you can also Google "animal shelters near me" to go directly to their websites.
Shelters have puppies and kittens, cats and dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets, snakes, lizards, goats, horses...even peacocks and tropical fish were frequently found at some of our local shelters. Whether you are interested in taking on the challenge of a new puppy or giving an old dog his best golden days, or if you want something more exotic, shelters have it all. Each of their animals are hoping someone will choose to adopt them and bring them to a better place where they can be protected and cherished.
Adopting Blaze has brought so much joy, purpose, silliness, exercise, and laughter into our lives, and it has been a pure delight to become a "pack" of three, thanks to his little presence in our home. I am so grateful to be part of his life.
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