Derby Dog

Now time for an update... almost two weeks ago, Zach and I adopted a new puppy names Derby. We were already looking for a new dog not 4 days after Bailey's passing and we contacted at least 6 different people about dogs. The people we were contacting were all Craigslist posts and I don't think that they were very responsible about removing posts once that had rehomed the dogs. Anyway... by Tuesday, July 7th, I decided to try other avenues. I had looked on this website for Jack Russell Rescue in Dallas and I came across the pic below.

I emailed the contact on the post to ask whether this little pup was a male or female and she replied that Derby was a male. At the time, I immediately said no and moved on, but she said if I would fill out an application she would see what little girls were in the area for me. I filled out the application online and not 30 minutes later, the rep for Russell Rescue was contacting me. Almost as if she was a sales person, she was trying to find out what we wanted in a dog and also went to work right away. She gave me several options of little girl dogs in the area, but none of them were exactly what we wanted. We were really wanting a puppy so that we could train them up how we wanted and because they wouldn't have known anyone else besides us. So probably about 12pm that day, I called her back and said that we would like to meet Derby and see if he would be a good fit. From there, she proceeded to tell me that he would need some stitches removed from a recent surgery and that she would get that done that day if we were really interested. So she did and that night, she actually came to us to check out our house and make sure that we had a fit home for the dog. So she brought Derby over along with his mom Gracie and we got to make a decision about who we wanted. We stuck with Derby dog and we have now had him for almost two weeks.

Another puppy pic from the adoption agency

Our family pics from the adoption agency... as you can tell he's a little rambunctious. Just like we like him.

Not a real good pic, but this shows you my favorite quirks about Derby dog... he has one ear that stands up and the other stays down. They're supposed to both be down and if we massage the one that stands up while folded, it will stay down for 5 seconds. Once he shakes, it goes right back to standing up. He's cute that way!

A little about Derby dog that just must him irresistible... Derby's mom was brought to a shelter because she was a stray. They thought that she was just sick and so they were treating her, but it became apparent that there were also puppies involved in the mix. No one ever claimed her from the shelter, so Russell Rescue took her and they also cared for the puppies when they were born. Gracie had a litter of 8 puppies on January 30, 2009. The adoption agency named the litter after cities in England. So that's where the name come from... Zach and I thought it was cute and so it has stuck. Derby had already had all of his shots and had also been neutered when we got him and I just couldn't pass that up. That's a lot of money saved. He was not potty-trained, but he's learning real fast. He loves his toys... he has at least 5-6 toys out at a time. At one time I came home and there were actually 13 toys out of the basket we keep them in. He loves to cuddle at the end of day when he has played real hard. He seems to do well with other dogs, especially since he came from Russell Rescue where the lady was taking care of about 10 dogs at the time that we got him. He was the last pup left in his litter and we are lucky to have him.

All that to say... welcome to the Shirley family, Derby! (haha... Derby Shirley rhymes.)