Lady, to the Rescue!

Meet Lady, the newest member of our family.

Lady is a three-year old miniature golden doodle. She's our first rescue dog, and we brought her into the household with a certain trepidation.

After all, you never know exactly what you’re getting with a rescue pet. Has she suffered abuse in the past? Is she scarred by her past experiences with humans? Will she get along with our almost nine-year-old German Shorthair Pointer, Cassie? Will she eat our slippers and keep us up at night with her whining?

But I have to say that so far—knock on wood—Lady has been no problem at all. She’s as sweet as can be. She craves physical touch and will immediately jump into your lap when you sit down. She goes right into her pen at bedtime and sleeps through the night without whining or crying.

Rachael is particularly thrilled. It's been a tough road for her since she lost her dear Happy two years ago. Now, she has a snuggly buddy again.

Cassie has accepted her new younger sister with stoic resignation. It bothers her that Lady has taken over her favorite sitting chair in the office. It bothers her even more when Lady growls at her when Cassie tries to get up on the chair with her. But so far, there have been no fights. Cassie is not a fighter, and from all appearances, Miss Lady is all growls and no bite.

As with any rescue dog, Lady came with very little information on her history. We know she came from a puppy mill in Lancaster. Likely, she was a puppy mama and was found deficient in that department and sent off the land of Misfit Brood Dogs.

But we don’t know this for sure. Possibly she hasn’t had any puppies at all. Perhaps she was the runt of a litter and taken by a prospective owner, only to be returned for some reason. That would explain why she has two embedded chips in her hide.

We may find out more about her when Lady goes for her first visit with the vet. Or we may not find anything more at all. And that’s fine too. She is a black box with a golden hue, and we’re happy to welcome her into her forever home.

I take credit for coming up with the name “Lady.” The good folks at the rescue operation gave her the temporary name of Carmela, but that didn’t feel right. We considered “Goldie” (trite), “Honey” (also trite), “Cuddly” (seriously?), and a couple other names.

As I looked at her, I thought she bore a certain resemblance to the pretty doggie in the Disney classic, “Lady and the Tramp.” Everyone thought that name was perfect, and so it was.

Now comes the hard work of training our newest member of the household. So far, she’s only had one accident in the house (!) and has wrought only minor damage in terms of chewing slippers and papers left within her reach.

Next week brings another important test when we take her and Cassie on a week-long camping trip to Cape May. We’re hoping she will do well in the car and that she loves the camping life as much as her older sister.

Rachael and daughter Rhianna with Lady

Our thanks to Wendy and the other good folks at Home at Last Dog Rescue for their help in bringing Lady to us. They were very thorough in their vetting process, and every step in the adoption was handled with the utmost professionalism.

When I see Lady cuddling with Rachael and the kids, I think: This dog has hit the jackpot in finding its forever home. But I think we’ve hit the jackpot just as much.

Which makes me wonder: who rescues whom when a household adopts a new pet?

Welcome, Lady! Now, will you please stop hogging Cassie’s favorite chair??