When we first brought Guinness home, he had a lot to get used to, our 2 dogs, our friends 1 dog, a cat, 2 fish tanks, a lot of traffic in and out of the house, and a ceiling. Guinny wouldn't come out of a kennel when we were in the room, he wouldn't eat out of a bowl and was very fearful of humans from being a bait dog all of his life. We started our "getting to know days" with making noise in the kitchen to get him used to household noises, and trying to get him to eat what our dogs ate, like fruits and veggies. His very first treat he took was from our friend Heather, she was making tator tot casserole and he took a tator tot from her and ate it :). That was a wonderful step in the right direction, trust. Guinness knew he found his forever home right away, he fell in love with all of our animals and came around to be the cuddly boy we know and love today. We continued to take him to Petco adoption days once a month to let him get used to different noises, people, children and different dogs. Always saying we would be able to give him to a home that would love him as much as we did. We knew we couldn't give him up when he started smiling for us! Happy dogs come from South Dakota you know ;)
He has done the craziest things that we would have never in a million years would have thought he would do. Some of Guinness's favorite activities are: run around in circles doing his Tazmanian Devil routine, having to crawl on top of you to cuddle, sleep with his head on my feet in order to truly be comfortable when we sleeps, smiling, holding hands when you pet him, taking time to sniff flowers in our garden, when he gets excited he makes pig noises (lol), loves his butt spanked (he he he), chasing butterflies all over the back yard, and Guinness is famous for doing drive by lickings (he licks you and runs away).
We couldn't let him go to another home after all we had done and taught one another. Being able to see him grow into the wonderful, energetic, cuddly dog we know as Guinness would never have been the same if we all weren't part of one another's lives.
You always learn something from people you know and meet, animals you encounter through out your life. Guinness has taught us: Trust, Guinness has always trusted other dogs and if our dogs trust you, he will give u a chance). Humility, Guinness enjoys the things like a soft bed to lie in at night, air conditioning in the summer, heat in the winter, food twice a day, kindness from others, plush toys, bones, the things he never had growing up as a bait dog. Love, he has shown us more love in the last 1 1/2 years than we could have ever expected. Patience, with people trying to pet him, children trying to hug him, even waiting for his bowl of food to be filled :).
We thought our household was complete, then we did the best thing ever, we adopted Guinness and now our household is truly complete.
Thank you SEPR and Guinness for this chance.
~Kellie & Dusk G.