Gizmo

Last spring we lost our cat Peanut Butter suddenly to a virulent illness. She was my husband Patrick's absolute best friend – he always called her the dog he'd always wanted. Her loss left a giant hole in our family, and then she was very quickly followed by our beloved Shih Tzu Snickers. 2010 was a very rough spring for all of us, as our family of six shrunk to a family of four – Patrick, myself and our cats Singe and Cricket.

Now it must be understood that in our house, animals like Patrick, but they adore me. It's just the way it is. After PB's death, Patrick told me he wanted a dog that was HIS, a dog like our cat Peanut. A dog that he took to the vet, and that he cared for and that liked him best. I said OK. We can try. And so our adventure in fostering began!

They say three times the charm, and Gizmo has definitely upheld that old adage! We started fostering when Patrick applied to adopt Leo (once known as Jericho), but it was discovered that Leo was NOT fond of men and so we agreed to foster him in the hopes that we could find him a perfect family. Eventually his fabulous fur-ever home found him and off he went! Our second foster, Mason, passed away suddenly in November. It was exceptionally traumatic because it was so unexpected and so fast, and we said we would not foster again. Well, time passed and we eventually felt ready to foster again, and along came Gizmo!

All we knew about Gizmo was that he was 8 years old, some sort of Papillon mix, and severely overweight. He was apparently afraid of leashes, which made going for walks difficult, and that at one point he had been housetrained but that he no longer was.

When Tracy from SDR first brought Gizmo to our home, he didn't want to leave her side. As we fully expected, coming in to our home was intimidating – three cats and a dog (over the past year we had adopted a dog and a stray cat)??? Are you kidding?? And the tiny little dog resembled a buzz saw more than a dog! Who wouldn't be intimidated? The first thing we did after Tracy left was go for a walk – it had always worked before when acclimating new dogs to Meena, and it did wonders with Gizmo and Meena. They walked like they had always been walking together! Amazing! But that first night really sealed the deal – Gizmo discovered the trick to getting up on the big bed, and the first thing he did was curl up on Patrick's pillow. And that's how they've slept ever since! I remember laughing and telling Patrick – be careful what you wish for!

Gizmo is Patrick's dog through and through – there is NO doubt about that. He falls asleep on Patrick's lap, follows Patrick around the house even when that means going up and down the stairs twenty times in an hour (we're remodeling). He goes bye-bye with Patrick and shopping with Patrick – he knows minutes before the car pulls up in the driveway that Patrick's coming home and is waiting impatiently for him. Gizmo loves going for walks with Patrick, and will probably be going up to the lake with Patrick this summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa B. Gizmo has absolutely flourished in the few weeks we've had him. He knows where he belongs, and I think that helps to give him a sense of stability and confidence. He's not entirely housetrained yet, but every day we get a little closer. Gizmo almost never shies away from the leash – in fact, he'll plant himself right in front of the door and sit and wait for his harness to go on! And he's gone from a whopping 22 lbs, to a mu
ch more svelt 17.7 lbs - that's an incredible achievement! The vet says 3 more lbs to go and he'll be where he should be - yay!

Gizmo entered our lives during the 1st anniversary of Peanut Butter's death, and I've described it as pure poetry that he bonded to Patrick during this time. Our house is fuller than it's ever been – we have our dogs Gizmo and Meena, and our cats Singe, Cricket and Angus. Plus there's the two of us! From six to four to seven! Who ever thought our family would be so big??

Our clan has expanded to the point where we can no longer foster, but that doesn't mean our relationship with SDR is over – we still plan to volunteer like we've been doing over the past year, so don't be surprised to see us at the bigger events or even some of the smaller events! It's easy to talk about volunteering and how important it is to our communities, but it's another thing entirely to actually DO it. It really doesn't take that much time – it can be as little as a couple of hours a month – and you get to meet all kinds of interesting people and dogs and perhaps go places you wouldn't normally consider going! Our lives have been enriched by the experiences of the past year – the good and the bad. Because without the bad, how can one possibly appreciate all the good?