Our little world has a new Orbit

If you caught my last post, you know we've been struggling to adopt a new family member.

It seems bittersweet that today would've been Moxie's 15th birthday.

We have missed our old lady since the day she left us in August. And, though we will continue to miss her until our very last day, we have a new distraction.

Meet Orbit

You can see in his eyes that he's Trouble!
His adoption was not a cut & dry 'yes we want him, let's sign some papers'...
After our initial meeting, we had to schedule a meeting with the shelter's animal trainer. We sat for over 2 hours watching how he behaved and interacted, as we got an earful about his biting, lack of housetraining, and barking tendencies. We answered questions, or simply scratched our heads, about how we'd handle certain situations that were likely to arise if we took him home to be part of our family.
Mid-way through I thought to myself, 'she's not confident we can handle this guy'...

Our impression was that we'd meet with her, she'd meet with some other interested parties and choose someone. However, at the end of it she asks, 'so if you were to take him, when could you pick him up?'
Just like that we were deciding if we wanted this problem child.
We decided we'd go for it. And as we walked out of the 'interview room', there were people on the phone calling to see him. 'He's just been adopted.'
This was Saturday...they scheduled his neuter for Monday, and Monday at 3 pm we were signing papers!

Of course my anxiety was high, but he's just a puppy that never had his basic puppy needs met, and needed some discipline.

His name was Bits...we've changed it to Orbit.
During the adoption we learned that he's actually AKC registered, though that means nothing to us, it is baffling that a person in a wheelchair, who can not possibly take care of a brand new terrier puppy, would spend the kind of money it takes to buy such a dog. Head scratcher.

He is learning to pee outside very quickly, just having someone to pay attention to him! He peed without us noticing within the first hour we had him home. A few hours later, he stood there, started to pee...and we scooped him up and took him outside. After that, he didn't have another accident until last night when Hubs mistook him sitting at the door for not needing to go out, when actually he just has trouble getting down the stairs with his cone on...so he peed on the floor. Not bad though, for a puppy just learning, I think.

He's great on walks, though he is still a little fearful of loud noises and big trucks.
He has started barking more, but not at anything in particular. Just ghosts, I guess?

The biting is the real struggle. He plays tug. And fetch. But he'll chew and chew and then look at your hand and then his game is 'try to bite the hand'. He'll jump at you, mouth open to bite. He'll nip at your feet if you're not paying attention to him...and he needs constant attention. He has yet to settle in and just snuggle up....he is always on the move.

This is the most calm he has been, outside of his crate (which he does great with...quiet as a mouse in his crate), but I had to take this away from him shortly after this picture was taken, as he just lay there gnawing a hole in it.
And then of course he cried and jumped and nipped because I took away his new favorite toy.

He is a pretty good boy, he just has no idea how to act. We were required to sign up for a 6-week round of obedience training through the shelter, starting in January. Happy to do it, as we did puppy training with Moxie and it makes a big difference we think. We'll have the benefit of the trainer already knowing Orbit, and his situation, and we are confident he'll learn his good manners and be the thing we need in our lives.
For the next few weeks it'll just be a test of patience, but going from an old lady that was content to sit and watch movies and nap with me all day to an untrained puppy that won't quit, it's to be expected.

We are happy to have a dog in our life again.