Apollo

In April my daughter and I came to the Humane Society thinking of adding a second dog to the family. We had successfully adopted our pit bull mix, Artemis (previously known as Myra), about a year earlier and I was hoping to find a male pit bull a little older or younger than our girl who would be a good match. Instead, my daughter fell in love with a dog who appeared to be the biggest dog in the place that day: an Akita mix called King.

The kennels were pretty packed the day we visited - lots of dogs, quite a few visitors and the dogs were all pretty wound up. King was quietly sitting in his kennel and we decided to let him check us out. We took King out to meet Artemis; they pretty much ignored each other, but seemed content to be around each other. We decided to bring the big boy home. That was when we found out it wasn't a good idea for King to be around cats! We have a lot of cats.but it was too late, we were in love and would find a way to manage. He would be Artemis' new brother. We brought him home, gave him the name Apollo and set about adjusting to life with two dogs.

Apollo came with pretty good manners: he had a good grip on sit, stay, down, off, out, etc. Imagine a dog who has to be convinced to get up on the bed and couch with us - certainly nothing like our pit bull girl, who quickly jumps up on the most comfy spot at the mere hint that she is welcome! But boy, Apollo does not like to be behind closed doors without his people. He hollered and whined and locked himself in a few rooms with all his banging about on the door handles. And talk about a prey drive; our cats were in trouble! Plus, Artemis isn't a very vocal girl; she stared in shock as Apollo showed that he wasn't the quiet dog we met in the kennel, but quite a vocal boy who sounds a bit like a wild seal when he decides he has a complaint!

We took it slow and steady and as the canine kids began to get used to each other, we all learned to enjoy Apollo's "speechifying." Drum roll, please: he now shares space with the cats without trying to turn them into treats on feet!

Thanks for helping us make our four-legged family complete.for now!

Wendy, Alexandria and the furry four-footer brigade

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