CHAPTER TWO
RICO MEETS THE ALPHA MALE
Meeting the family had been a great success, barring Josie’s unreasonable terror at the sight of the little yellow pup with the chubby belly and far too large paws. I collected the children, Kaitlynne, who was in high school; Aaron and Alex, the proud new owners of the furry puppy; Kesley, a blonde cherub in fifth grade who battled the boys for a turn cuddling the new family member; and Aiden, recently recovered from a major facial reconstructive surgery. We said good bye to my parents, the assorted nieces and nephews, the aunts and uncles and the few unrecognized children who had wandered into the yard to see Rico.
Climbing into the car, we buckle up and prepared for the two hour drive home. As I pulled away from the curb, I glanced in the rearview mirror. Rico was once again curled up between Aaron an Alex. Each boy had a hand gently placed on his blonde fur. He breathed a heavy sigh of contentment in his sleep.
The look of pure joy on the faces of my children caused me to blink back tears.
Suddenly a voice came from the backseat, laden with fear. It was Aiden, a fourth grader who had already been through so much in his young life having faced down several scary surgeries. “Mom, what about Bob?”
I’d thought about that question myself, briefly, before we had made the journey to get our new pet.
“Don’t worry, honey,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Bob will be fine.”
But would he? I wondered.
Bob was only a year old but seemed to inhabit the body of a crotchety old man. He was half pug and half poodle, smart and dumb in one mix. We had gotten him for Aiden as a companion for his long recovery after the bone graft from his hip to his face.
Bob was about 10 inches high, covered with soft grey and black curls. He was shaped like a pug with the barrel chest and curled tail. He had large pug eye and the adorable pug nose, but it was set on the end of a poodle snout. He was an odd mix and adored Aiden, sleeping on the foot of his bed and following him around the house.
He had enough pug in him that he spent hours curled up beside Aiden as he recovered from the surgery. Bob watched hours of video games or television. When Aiden was well enough to move around, he took Bob out to the fenced yard with him. Bob bounced and played an snuggle up to his boy. It was a happy relationship.
Bob had arrived as a puppy in the final year of Glory’s life. She was an adult and tolerated the active puppy with a certain amount of aloofness. She never played with Bob, but rather preferred to watch him play with Aiden.
Bob was in his crate when Glory found the rat poison our neighbor had put out by his shed. I put up the fence the next week, enclosing half of the acre we owned with the ranch house.
Bob had the rule of the house. Everyone spoiled him as though it would take away the pain of losing Glory.
Thus, Bob became spoiled. Everything in the house, including the children belonged to him. He never learned to play with other pets. He refused to play fetch. By age one he was grumbly and possessive. But he loved Aiden. And that was all that mattered.
As I drove, listening to the idle chatter of the children, I planned how to introduce Rico to Bob.
I hadn’t had the best of success introducing new pets to the household in the past.
Glory had had the run of the house as an only pet for a few years before I purchased two ragdoll kittens. I read a few articles about how to introduce kittens to the household pets. I enlisted my oldest girl, Kaitlynne, to help me.
Lily and Lucy (named for two theatrical roles that Kaitlynne and I had played onstage) were only eight weeks old. I had no doubt that Glory would be gentle with them. I just didn’t know how they would respond to the huge, red dog.
At first I thought it would be good to hold the tiny kittens and allow Glory to sniff them. However, I was concerned the kittens might freak out and claw at us. Kaitlynne suggested putting Glory in her large crate and letting the kittens approach her so they could sniff at each other without any possibility of danger.
We both decided that Glory would probably think she was being punished, associating the kittens with a bad situation.
We finally decided to put the two kittens in the crate, leaving Glory outside to sniff at them. That way, she could get to know them without being restricted in any way. We would shower her with praise and treats and pats as she got near the kittens.
It seemed like a great plan.
It was a great plan. Until the tiny kittens popped through the metal squares of the crate in front of the dog! How had I not seen that they were too little to be contained by the crate?
As Glory sniffed at the babies, they popped out in front of her. She, huge dog that she was, immediately peed the floor and ran to hide in Kelsey’s bedroom at the end of the hall.
I shook my head, noticing that Aaron still looked a little green from the Puppy Mill house. Aiden was asleep in the back. Kelsey hummed to herself an looked out the window. I had a little more than an hour to figure out how to introduce Rico to Bob.
In the end, it turned out I had worried for nothing. We arrived home, tumbled out of the van and allowed Rico some time in the yard to relieve himself and sniff around. I began to explain to the older children (we called Kait, Aaron and Alex the “Bigs,” and Kelsey and Aiden were the “Littles.”) my plan for introducing the two dogs.
Aaron or Alex were to sit on the couch with the puppy. Aiden would attach Bob’s leash and bring him into the room. He would allow Bob to meet the puppy at the end of the lease, ensuring no sudden snapping or pawing. Bob would be showered with praise for good behavior.
We turned to collect Rico in order to implement the plan. As we did so, a grey and black blur crossed the yard.
Aiden had let Bob out!
Before we could say a word or make a move, Bob was upon Rico. He sniffed mightily and then backed up. Suddenly he dropped his chest to the ground, his bum high in the air, gave a “Woof” and sprinted away. He ran back and repeated the gesture. Rico answered with a high “Wuf” and waddled after Bob.
It was love at first sight!
Rico adored Bob, following him around the yard all evening. Bob, in turn, began to connect with a being that was not human.
After almost an hour of slow-speed chase, we called the dogs to come inside with us. Bob raced to the door, bounding up the two concrete steps of the back porch. Rico waddled after, gave a mighty leap of approximately two inches and fell onto his back. He wriggled to his feet and leaped once more. Again, he cleared about two inches and fell. He gamely got to his feet to try a third time.
Bob watched from above, his ears perked forward and his tongue lolling out of his smiling face.
This time, as Rico made his valiant attempt, Alex cupped his little bum in his hand and boosted him up. Rico plopped onto the first step and began preparations for the next leap.
Alex aided him once again. Rico landed on the platform of the porch with a victorious “Wuf,” convinced it was his superior leaping skills that had gotten him there.
I opened the door. Rico followed Bob inside.
And that was when things changed. Bob went from playmate to dictator simply by crossing the threshold. Suddenly every move that Rico made was corrected by the pug-a-poo. If Rico tried to walk from the kitchen to the dining room, Bob got in front of him and growled. When Rico turned away to return to the kitchen, Bob moved in front of him and growled again. Rico was obviously confused by the change in his playmate. He gave an unsteady “Wuf” and tried to lick Bob’s nose.
Bob backed away and sat. Rico pursued only to have Bob move away again. Rico lost interest and once more waddled towards the next room. Bob growled. Rico sat down.
Finally, I picked up Bob, scolding him for his behavior. Rico followed his boys into the living room. Once there he sniffed every corner, every toy, every foot. I held Bob on my lap and petted him, reassuring him that he was still loved. He wiggle and squirmed, anxious to get on the floor in order to protect his house from the fuzzy blonde interloper.
The boys sat on the couch to watch the Rico explore. Kelsey and Aiden squeeze into Blue Chair, a large recliner in front of a floor to ceiling bank of windows. Kait sat on the raised hearth by a sandstone fireplace. Bob finally settled on my lap while keeping a vigilant eye on Rico.
After several moments, Rico realized none of his new people were petting him. He shook his head and whined. Aaron called his name.
“Rico!”
Rico wheeled around, spotted his boys on the couch and made a skittering mad dash across the hardwood floor. He made a mighty leap, bolstered no doubt by the confidence gained by surmounting the concrete steps early that evening. His leap was greater than before, his approach nearly flawless…had the couch been three to four inches off the floor.
“Oooh!” Alex cried as Rico made the first of countless face-plants into the furniture.
Rico hit the (thankfully) cushioned edge of the couch and bounced back, all four paws splaying outward into a belly flop. Pushing and sliding, Rico maneuvered into a sitting position, shook his head, and looked at the offending couch.
“Wuf!”
Aaron laughed and scooped Rico off the floor, setting him on his lap. Alex leaned over, letting the puppy scrub his face with his tiny pink tongue.
At that moment, Bob wriggled free and ran across the angled couch to the puppy. I made a grab for him but missed. Alex sat back, a look of fear in his large green eyes.
Bob suddenly stopped, sniffing at Rico again. Rico looked up at him and gave him a huge lick across Bob’s button nose. Startled, Bob sat. Alex put a hand on Bob’s back.
“Good dog, Bob,” he said. Bob cocked his head and wagged his circle tail.
It was a small victory, but we all took it.
We ate a late dinner of frozen pizza. Bob got several crusts. Rico snored from Aaron’s lap. The children began showers and baths, jammies and the brushing of teeth. I read aloud from the latest “Harry Potter” novel. The children kissed and hugged me one by one and settled into their beds.
Kait retreated to her actor themed room. I had spent a month while she was in England and Ireland as a People to People Student Ambassador redecorating it. Kaitlynne was attending a local charter high school for students of the arts. Her room reflected that. One wall was covered with a photographic wall paper of the New York City skyline. Her bed was patterned after a thrust stage complete with velvet curtains. She had a makeup mirror with lights and her closet doors were a collage of “New Yorker” covers and souvenir playbills from various shows.
“Can Rico sleep with me sometime,” she asked.
“You can ask the boys. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“I’ll wait a while. So they can get use to him first.”
“Great idea.”
Kelsey was in her loft bed in the room directly across the hall. Her room was green and gold (originally it was a Packer room for the boys, but now was covered with flowers and grass designs). She had smuggled a couple of books in her bed and pulled the curtain that hung around her mattress.
“Five minutes and then lights out,” I kissed her cheek.
She smiled at me, her blue eyes sparkling. “I think I love Rico.”
“I’m sure he loves you, too,” I said. I didn’t know then how much Rico would come to love her.
A quick visit to Aiden’s Winnie the Pooh room showed me that he was indeed ready for bed. His lids drooped over his grey eyes.
“’Night, Mom,” he murmured.
“Night, baby,” I replied, pulling his blue blanket around him. I gazed around the room at the gnarled tree painted up one wall, stretching its limbs across another and onto the ceiling. All of the old-fashioned Pooh characters sat in the branches looking down at him.
An artist friend had painted the scene while Aiden and I were away for one of his early surgeries. I loved that his bed seemed to be nestled in the branches.
Aaron and Alex took the stairs down to their bedroom in the walk-out basement carrying the sleeping puppy. It was their sanctuary. The walls were rag-rolled red and white for their beloved high school team. It had been the master bedroom, but I had fashioned it into their room with bookshelf dividers, bunk beds, desks and room for Alex’s drum set and Aaron’s guitars. They even had recording equipment to record the song they wrote for their neophyte band.
Aaron handed Rico over to Alex. Aaron slept on the top bunk. Alex would sleep on the lower bunk with the puppy. I watched them slide into bed with a smile.
I kissed each cheek and told them I loved them. They loved me right back.
As I left the room, I heard them in unison, “Thanks for Rico.”
“You’re very welcome,” I smiled and clicked off the light.
RICO MEETS THE ALPHA MALE
Meeting the family had been a great success, barring Josie’s unreasonable terror at the sight of the little yellow pup with the chubby belly and far too large paws. I collected the children, Kaitlynne, who was in high school; Aaron and Alex, the proud new owners of the furry puppy; Kesley, a blonde cherub in fifth grade who battled the boys for a turn cuddling the new family member; and Aiden, recently recovered from a major facial reconstructive surgery. We said good bye to my parents, the assorted nieces and nephews, the aunts and uncles and the few unrecognized children who had wandered into the yard to see Rico.
Climbing into the car, we buckle up and prepared for the two hour drive home. As I pulled away from the curb, I glanced in the rearview mirror. Rico was once again curled up between Aaron an Alex. Each boy had a hand gently placed on his blonde fur. He breathed a heavy sigh of contentment in his sleep.
The look of pure joy on the faces of my children caused me to blink back tears.
Suddenly a voice came from the backseat, laden with fear. It was Aiden, a fourth grader who had already been through so much in his young life having faced down several scary surgeries. “Mom, what about Bob?”
I’d thought about that question myself, briefly, before we had made the journey to get our new pet.
“Don’t worry, honey,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Bob will be fine.”
But would he? I wondered.
Bob was only a year old but seemed to inhabit the body of a crotchety old man. He was half pug and half poodle, smart and dumb in one mix. We had gotten him for Aiden as a companion for his long recovery after the bone graft from his hip to his face.
Bob was about 10 inches high, covered with soft grey and black curls. He was shaped like a pug with the barrel chest and curled tail. He had large pug eye and the adorable pug nose, but it was set on the end of a poodle snout. He was an odd mix and adored Aiden, sleeping on the foot of his bed and following him around the house.
He had enough pug in him that he spent hours curled up beside Aiden as he recovered from the surgery. Bob watched hours of video games or television. When Aiden was well enough to move around, he took Bob out to the fenced yard with him. Bob bounced and played an snuggle up to his boy. It was a happy relationship.
Bob had arrived as a puppy in the final year of Glory’s life. She was an adult and tolerated the active puppy with a certain amount of aloofness. She never played with Bob, but rather preferred to watch him play with Aiden.
Bob was in his crate when Glory found the rat poison our neighbor had put out by his shed. I put up the fence the next week, enclosing half of the acre we owned with the ranch house.
Bob had the rule of the house. Everyone spoiled him as though it would take away the pain of losing Glory.
Thus, Bob became spoiled. Everything in the house, including the children belonged to him. He never learned to play with other pets. He refused to play fetch. By age one he was grumbly and possessive. But he loved Aiden. And that was all that mattered.
As I drove, listening to the idle chatter of the children, I planned how to introduce Rico to Bob.
I hadn’t had the best of success introducing new pets to the household in the past.
Glory had had the run of the house as an only pet for a few years before I purchased two ragdoll kittens. I read a few articles about how to introduce kittens to the household pets. I enlisted my oldest girl, Kaitlynne, to help me.
Lily and Lucy (named for two theatrical roles that Kaitlynne and I had played onstage) were only eight weeks old. I had no doubt that Glory would be gentle with them. I just didn’t know how they would respond to the huge, red dog.
At first I thought it would be good to hold the tiny kittens and allow Glory to sniff them. However, I was concerned the kittens might freak out and claw at us. Kaitlynne suggested putting Glory in her large crate and letting the kittens approach her so they could sniff at each other without any possibility of danger.
We both decided that Glory would probably think she was being punished, associating the kittens with a bad situation.
We finally decided to put the two kittens in the crate, leaving Glory outside to sniff at them. That way, she could get to know them without being restricted in any way. We would shower her with praise and treats and pats as she got near the kittens.
It seemed like a great plan.
It was a great plan. Until the tiny kittens popped through the metal squares of the crate in front of the dog! How had I not seen that they were too little to be contained by the crate?
As Glory sniffed at the babies, they popped out in front of her. She, huge dog that she was, immediately peed the floor and ran to hide in Kelsey’s bedroom at the end of the hall.
I shook my head, noticing that Aaron still looked a little green from the Puppy Mill house. Aiden was asleep in the back. Kelsey hummed to herself an looked out the window. I had a little more than an hour to figure out how to introduce Rico to Bob.
In the end, it turned out I had worried for nothing. We arrived home, tumbled out of the van and allowed Rico some time in the yard to relieve himself and sniff around. I began to explain to the older children (we called Kait, Aaron and Alex the “Bigs,” and Kelsey and Aiden were the “Littles.”) my plan for introducing the two dogs.
Aaron or Alex were to sit on the couch with the puppy. Aiden would attach Bob’s leash and bring him into the room. He would allow Bob to meet the puppy at the end of the lease, ensuring no sudden snapping or pawing. Bob would be showered with praise for good behavior.
We turned to collect Rico in order to implement the plan. As we did so, a grey and black blur crossed the yard.
Aiden had let Bob out!
Before we could say a word or make a move, Bob was upon Rico. He sniffed mightily and then backed up. Suddenly he dropped his chest to the ground, his bum high in the air, gave a “Woof” and sprinted away. He ran back and repeated the gesture. Rico answered with a high “Wuf” and waddled after Bob.
It was love at first sight!
Rico adored Bob, following him around the yard all evening. Bob, in turn, began to connect with a being that was not human.
After almost an hour of slow-speed chase, we called the dogs to come inside with us. Bob raced to the door, bounding up the two concrete steps of the back porch. Rico waddled after, gave a mighty leap of approximately two inches and fell onto his back. He wriggled to his feet and leaped once more. Again, he cleared about two inches and fell. He gamely got to his feet to try a third time.
Bob watched from above, his ears perked forward and his tongue lolling out of his smiling face.
This time, as Rico made his valiant attempt, Alex cupped his little bum in his hand and boosted him up. Rico plopped onto the first step and began preparations for the next leap.
Alex aided him once again. Rico landed on the platform of the porch with a victorious “Wuf,” convinced it was his superior leaping skills that had gotten him there.
I opened the door. Rico followed Bob inside.
And that was when things changed. Bob went from playmate to dictator simply by crossing the threshold. Suddenly every move that Rico made was corrected by the pug-a-poo. If Rico tried to walk from the kitchen to the dining room, Bob got in front of him and growled. When Rico turned away to return to the kitchen, Bob moved in front of him and growled again. Rico was obviously confused by the change in his playmate. He gave an unsteady “Wuf” and tried to lick Bob’s nose.
Bob backed away and sat. Rico pursued only to have Bob move away again. Rico lost interest and once more waddled towards the next room. Bob growled. Rico sat down.
Finally, I picked up Bob, scolding him for his behavior. Rico followed his boys into the living room. Once there he sniffed every corner, every toy, every foot. I held Bob on my lap and petted him, reassuring him that he was still loved. He wiggle and squirmed, anxious to get on the floor in order to protect his house from the fuzzy blonde interloper.
The boys sat on the couch to watch the Rico explore. Kelsey and Aiden squeeze into Blue Chair, a large recliner in front of a floor to ceiling bank of windows. Kait sat on the raised hearth by a sandstone fireplace. Bob finally settled on my lap while keeping a vigilant eye on Rico.
After several moments, Rico realized none of his new people were petting him. He shook his head and whined. Aaron called his name.
“Rico!”
Rico wheeled around, spotted his boys on the couch and made a skittering mad dash across the hardwood floor. He made a mighty leap, bolstered no doubt by the confidence gained by surmounting the concrete steps early that evening. His leap was greater than before, his approach nearly flawless…had the couch been three to four inches off the floor.
“Oooh!” Alex cried as Rico made the first of countless face-plants into the furniture.
Rico hit the (thankfully) cushioned edge of the couch and bounced back, all four paws splaying outward into a belly flop. Pushing and sliding, Rico maneuvered into a sitting position, shook his head, and looked at the offending couch.
“Wuf!”
Aaron laughed and scooped Rico off the floor, setting him on his lap. Alex leaned over, letting the puppy scrub his face with his tiny pink tongue.
At that moment, Bob wriggled free and ran across the angled couch to the puppy. I made a grab for him but missed. Alex sat back, a look of fear in his large green eyes.
Bob suddenly stopped, sniffing at Rico again. Rico looked up at him and gave him a huge lick across Bob’s button nose. Startled, Bob sat. Alex put a hand on Bob’s back.
“Good dog, Bob,” he said. Bob cocked his head and wagged his circle tail.
It was a small victory, but we all took it.
We ate a late dinner of frozen pizza. Bob got several crusts. Rico snored from Aaron’s lap. The children began showers and baths, jammies and the brushing of teeth. I read aloud from the latest “Harry Potter” novel. The children kissed and hugged me one by one and settled into their beds.
Kait retreated to her actor themed room. I had spent a month while she was in England and Ireland as a People to People Student Ambassador redecorating it. Kaitlynne was attending a local charter high school for students of the arts. Her room reflected that. One wall was covered with a photographic wall paper of the New York City skyline. Her bed was patterned after a thrust stage complete with velvet curtains. She had a makeup mirror with lights and her closet doors were a collage of “New Yorker” covers and souvenir playbills from various shows.
“Can Rico sleep with me sometime,” she asked.
“You can ask the boys. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“I’ll wait a while. So they can get use to him first.”
“Great idea.”
Kelsey was in her loft bed in the room directly across the hall. Her room was green and gold (originally it was a Packer room for the boys, but now was covered with flowers and grass designs). She had smuggled a couple of books in her bed and pulled the curtain that hung around her mattress.
“Five minutes and then lights out,” I kissed her cheek.
She smiled at me, her blue eyes sparkling. “I think I love Rico.”
“I’m sure he loves you, too,” I said. I didn’t know then how much Rico would come to love her.
A quick visit to Aiden’s Winnie the Pooh room showed me that he was indeed ready for bed. His lids drooped over his grey eyes.
“’Night, Mom,” he murmured.
“Night, baby,” I replied, pulling his blue blanket around him. I gazed around the room at the gnarled tree painted up one wall, stretching its limbs across another and onto the ceiling. All of the old-fashioned Pooh characters sat in the branches looking down at him.
An artist friend had painted the scene while Aiden and I were away for one of his early surgeries. I loved that his bed seemed to be nestled in the branches.
Aaron and Alex took the stairs down to their bedroom in the walk-out basement carrying the sleeping puppy. It was their sanctuary. The walls were rag-rolled red and white for their beloved high school team. It had been the master bedroom, but I had fashioned it into their room with bookshelf dividers, bunk beds, desks and room for Alex’s drum set and Aaron’s guitars. They even had recording equipment to record the song they wrote for their neophyte band.
Aaron handed Rico over to Alex. Aaron slept on the top bunk. Alex would sleep on the lower bunk with the puppy. I watched them slide into bed with a smile.
I kissed each cheek and told them I loved them. They loved me right back.
As I left the room, I heard them in unison, “Thanks for Rico.”
“You’re very welcome,” I smiled and clicked off the light.