Chapter Two
And Then We Were Four
We had arrived at our new home a few days
prior when Ken, Lana and I, found
ourselves at one of the local animal shelters in search for a brother or sister
for Lana. We had brought our little girl with us because we wanted to ensure
our newest family members’ temperament would be compatible with hers. We introduced
her to quite a few dogs. In the end, it
was a nameless, 8-week old pint-sized Golden Retriever puppy who stole our
hearts with his magnetic personality!
As part of the adoption process, we had to
agree to have Darren neutered before he could leave the shelter; even at the
tender age of eight weeks. In retrospect, it was certainly not a good idea. Research has shown a strong correlation between
spaying/neutering at too early an age and future health problems. This includes
hip dysplasia, urinary incontinence primarily in female dogs, delays in growth plate
closure and stunted growth. Hindsight is always 20/20, and Darren’s fate
would more than likely have entailed euthanasia if we wouldn’t have adopted
him. What could we do?
A week after we had signed the adoption
papers it was time to bring the newest member of our family home. With Lana in
tow, we drove to the animal shelter to pick up her little brother. He had
recovered from the anesthesia nicely, and the incision site showed no signs of
infection.
We
wrapped him up in a big bath towel and carefully placed him at the foot of my
car seat; I wanted to make sure I could keep a close eye on him. We had driven
for about ten minutes and before we realized what happened Darren had expelled
his snack. At least he had good aim because all of the vomit ended up on the
towel. We stopped to clean Darren’s mess before we drove on, and all the while
we wondered why he had gotten sick. Was it due to the surgery earlier that day?
Were the last minute vaccinations to
blame? Or did he suffer from motion sickness? Anything sounded possible. In time
we learned he did not suffer from motion sickness at all; in fact, he loved car
rides.
When we finally arrived at our house, it was
already dinner time. After the dogs had devoured their meals, Darren sauntered
on to explore his new home, carefully watched by his big sister. She didn’t
look as if she had any objections to his urge to sight-see.
The day we had arrived at our new home, the
house flooded due to a plugged drainage pipe. Apparently one of the
construction workers had “forgotten” to take out the rags that he had used to
keep the drain clean during the construction phase. This oversight caused quite
the disaster on move-in day. Copious amounts of water had found its way back up
the pipes and out of the toilet, and flooded virtually every room on the first
floor. As a result, most of the wall-to-wall carpeting, as well as the wood
flooring by the front entrance had to be taken up, and large de-humidifiers and
drying fans installed.
None of this noise-making equipment seemed
to bother little Darren. Under Lana’s watchful eyes, he was able to explore the
entire house, followed by a short excursion into the outside world called a
garden. When he eventually discovered his sister’s bedstead upstairs, he just
crawled under the bed next to her, and both fell asleep, contend that
everything was right with their world. Lana had finally found her cuddle buddy!
I was truly amazed; this time around she had no qualms about sharing her home
with a newcomer. Perhaps she sensed Darren wasn’t going to be a temporary
house guest or maybe he gave off a different, calmer energy than her short-term
pal “Bowser”. She was clearly not meant to be an only child, after all!
Our initial period as a family of four was
on the chaotic side. Darren was not potty-trained nor did he have any idea
which behavior was acceptable and which wasn’t. His attention span seemed as
limited as his bladder control. After the second day of controlled bedlam, we
couldn’t help but wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. Fortunately Lana
was always by his side, and gently guided him from here to there, which made
leash training a cinch. He also learned from her to keep silent, unless barking
was necessary to discourage any potential intruder from entering the premises
without proper authorization. Darren took his silence to the next level and
left the job of home protection entirely to his big sister. At this point, we
began to doubt if he would ever grow up to become a serious watchdog. It was
not part of his breed make-up. If I remember correctly we heard Darren bark a
handful of times throughout his entire lifetime. It was quite a pity; his bark
was deep and sounded frightening, despite his diminutive stature. Looks can be
deceiving!
