Willie

All Willie wanted was to be by your side and he loved to cuddle. If you stopped moving for even a second Willie would try to cuddle whatever part of you was touching the floor. When I was watching TV he`d try to sneak up on the couch, and if I didn`t let him he`d just sleep on my feet or up against the couch. He hated being alone. He would cry and cry and cry. He despised the kennel and would howl at the thought of going in it. He was an older dog, and I'm not sure how he came into the foster system but we agreed to take him in. When the woman dropped him off she was laughing, saying he sounds like a pig. She wasn't joking. He actually sounded like a pig. I think he had some sort of nasal passage issue so he was constantly grunting. And not in the cute way a short nose dog like a pug or a bull dog does, it was a constant grunting with each breath. And he was some sort of beagle/basset hound mix so he had a big long nose to grunt from. We didn`t discuss names long. We went right to Wilbur, an obvious reference to Wilbur the pig.  He was also the first dog to fall utterly in love with my boyfriend and not me. He liked me fine, loved me too, but absolutely adored my boyfriend. He followed him around and snuggled up close whenever given the chance. I was a bit jealous. Most the dogs loved me the most! I`m the one feeding them, walking them, and spending the most time with them so generally I`m at least slightly favoured. I was becoming accustom to a constant shadow. Suuuurre it wasn`t a competition but it made me feel good to know my efforts were being rewarded. And it was an easy way to get Ryan to help out more - ``If you did more they`d love you more too!`` Willie went straight to Ryan, and stayed stuck to his side. Ungrateful little jerk dog.

I mentioned his extreme distaste for being alone because it presented quite a large problem, as we soon discovered. His nose problem was tolerable during the course of the day but at night this dog would snore. Now I grew up with a dad that snored, and he snores LOUD but this I couldn't escape. He just wanted to sleep in the bedroom with us, and was very well behaved, but we couldn't sleep with him in the room! It was like out of a cartoon, where he sucked you in and shook the room. We tried putting him in the spare room for a night. Made it all comfortable, had nice warm blankets, and stuck Bruise in there with him. He screaming and howled for hours before my desperate roommate made him a new sleep spot in the downstairs bathroom. Even then we could still hear him. It hurt my heart to hear him cry. Here he was, the sweetest dog in the world, and older dog that was probably just thrown out of a loving home, and all he wanted to do was to sleep close to his new beloved foster dad. We couldn`t keep him alone like that so I made a new plan - fall asleep before him. I also developed a new skill for sleeping with the pillows blocking out most of the noise.  



Willie trying to cuddle, Bruiser being a devil dog



Thankfully for my sleep schedule and sanity, we only had Willie for a short time. Maybe a week, maybe two, but not long at all. A lady applied to adopt him and came to meet him the next morning with her two young sons. They loved him immediately and wanted to adopt him on the spot. Willie was great with the kids and bonded with them right away. I think he liked boys more - thats the only way I can make myself feel better about the whole loving Ryan more situation.. Generally I don`t like such fast adoptions, I like a meeting and then take a few days to let the family think and be sure its a good match. No rash decisions when dealing with a pets life. Seeing how Wilbur was an older guy, and had the grunting issue, it was kind of a now-or-never situation and they were a perfect family for him. And let`s be honest, I love my sleep. I agreed to the adoption, but asked that they come back later that night so I could get all the paper work in order and they could ready their home. The mom agreed but the one little boy started crying at the thought. I told him Willie was officially his dog but we just needed a little time to say goodbye, and he understood. The poor little dude was just heartbroken at the thought of being separated from his new friend for the day. It completely broke my heart but once the mom told him it would give them time to pick out a collar and new toys he relented. Told me I better not change my mind on him. Since I had never been threatened by a child before I like to think it was cute and not kinda scary. When they came back that night he rushed over to show me Willies new goods and as he sat on the stairs Willie came and sat in his lap. It was too cute. Willie definitely chose his family and as far as I know he`s still living happily with them.