Now I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the first few weeks were hard. He was still trying to adapt to his new surroundings in the Midwest during the winter months and has some serious separation anxiety – he even fractured two of his teeth (which we then had to have extracted about a month later) trying to get out of his crate while we were at work. But after putting his crate in the same room as Rain’s we learned that they both cope better throughout the day being able to see the other. We also didn’t know much about our baby since he’s from Texas, but we do know that he was most likely a stray for a little while, and his street-dog tendencies conflicted with our sleep schedules a bit(he used to like to eat at 2 AM and 4 AM, sharp!). BUT after a few weeks he started to know and love our routine, although he’s still the first one to eat and go potty in the morning!
Hiro has to honestly be one of the goofiest dogs I’ve ever come across in my life. He is one of the most unique looking dogs (no, we haven’t done a DNA test just yet, but my money is on a Pit/Frenchie mix) with the biggest brown eyes, the goofiest grin, which has only gotten goofier since two of his front teeth were extracted, and the cutest little strut I’ve ever seen. His two main looks are extremely happy and extremely sad – the sad part when you get the puppy eyes is anytime you’re not petting him, feeding him, looking at him, paying attention to him, letting him go outside right that second, letting him on the furniture, not giving him a treat, putting him in his crate, etc. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, he has his epic puppy dog eyes on pretty much all the time – unless you’re petting him or feeding him.
One thing that we know for sure is he is definitely a mama’s boy! He loves to curl up right next to me at bedtime and snooze on the bed until dad comes to bed, then he knows that he has to sleep in his dog bed. Anywhere that I try to go in the house he has to follow; anytime that I have to take a shower or bath he sits right outside of the bathroom door sighing every few minutes. And my favorite nickname for him is Pop Tart because he loves to get to jump around and play in the backyard with his sister/girlfriend, Rain. If he ever picks a toy up he usually just walks around with whatever it is in his mouth for a few minutes and then loses interest. He would do anything for a belly rub and hotdogs (or any food really), which worked out really well during Train-a-Bull classes!
There are so many moments where Hiro and Rain do something silly or when they’re sleeping, curled up right next to me, that I wonder how someone could have given them up. I think about the short, terrifying ride to animal control and about how they had to sit in a cage surrounded by barking dogs, even if it was just for a short while, and thinking “Will anyone ever love me again?” And then I remember that without those families that gave up on them they wouldn’t have been saved by the Sioux Empire Pit Rescue and they wouldn’t be home with us. We may have saved their lives by giving them a loving home but they also teach us every day about love and loyalty, and that’s something that money can’t buy (unless it’s to pay an adoption fee of course!). So thank you to SEPR for not only finding my furbies and bringing them home, but also for the constant love, support and advice that you offer 24/7 and I’m honored to be a part of the SEPR alumni family!
~ Nick and Brittany