I have some very happy news. Jason and I are the proud parents of a sweet new baby!

And by baby I mean adorable dog. 🙂

We have been wanting a dog for a LONG time, but our previous landlord didn’t allow pets. Now that we’ve moved into a dog-friendly area, there was nothing holding us back! Jason’s birthday was this past Saturday, and after bar review class we made a quick trip to Atlanta Pet Rescue, a local no-kill shelter for cats and dogs.

I had seen our pup online before visiting and fell in love. But we wanted to go and look at all the dogs first before making any decisions. When we got to the shelter there were dozens of dogs in enclosures, jumping all over the place and barking at every person and dog to pass by. And then there was one little guy, silent and snuggled up in a ball in the corner amidst the noise and chaos. We observed him for a few minutes and were just amazed at his level of calm and contentment. A little while later we were being interviewed by an adoption counselor, and meeting little Bodie (that’s the name the shelter gave him) for the first time. It didn’t take long for us to fall head over heels. How could you not? He’s so darn cute!

This little dude was picked up by animal control and then given to the shelter last year. A family adopted him several months ago, but had to return him to the shelter a few weeks ago. I can’t imagine what he’s gone through, but I know that what he needs is just a permanent place to be loved and cared for. And that’s exactly what we’re going to give him.

Since he’s a true rescue, we don’t know his exact breed. The shelter guessed corgi blend, and we’re thinking that he’s probably a mix between Corgi and Chihuahua. He’s really small, which is exactly what we wanted.

It was so exciting taking him home. We named him Cynewulf (pronounced KIN-UH-WOOLF), after a great Anglo-Saxon poet that Jason and I studied together back in college. The name (if I remember correctly, but it’s been a long time since I last took Anglo-Saxon) means royal/kingly wolf. He looks more like a fox though!

We loved getting him shiny new tags with his new name. Such a happy day. 

I’m sure that every dog owner says this about their pet, but this dog is truly amazing. He is completely house trained and leash trained and has some of the best house manners I’ve ever seen in a dog. I’ve never owned a pup, but I’ve walked dogs and done pettsitting, and this dog is better behaved than any I’ve ever taken care of. He NEVER barks (literally, never, we’ve only heard one very quiet bark this whole time), never jumps, never nips, never humps…nothing. He’s pretty much a dream, which is what the volunteers at the shelter said about him. And he is SO warm and loving. It takes him about 5 seconds to warm up to a new person before he’s snuggling up with them. Snuggling is his favorite activity.

The only challenge we’ve had with Cynewulf is getting him to accept his crate. The shelter said he was crate trained, but when we brought him home it was obvious that he suffers from some major separation anxiety. He gets a little freaked out if I even walk into the other room. I don’t really blame him considering that he’s 7 years old and never had a permanent home! I would be anxious, too. Once he checks it out and sees that we’re not leaving, he’s fine. But the one time that we did crate him and leave, he whined and cried so much! It was so hard to leave him like that, but we got advice that we shouldn’t reward his whining by coming back inside or letting him out. Since then we’ve been trying to make him happy with his crate again, leaving the door open and giving him treats in the crate. So far, he much prefers the couch. 🙂

I’m so glad that we got Cynewulf just when we did. I’m sure some people are wondering why we got a new dog in the middle of studying for the bar exam, and the answer to that is that we got a new dog because we are studying for the bar exam! Animals are such wonderful companions, especially in stressful times, and having him around will force us to get fresh air to walk him around. He really is a lap dog, so he’s completely content to snuggle on the sofa for hours while we study. Doesn’t get much better than that.

If any dog owners have tips on things I should know, please comment! He’s a very easy dog but we are newbies so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren