Ohio State Redeye or "Red"

Kerry has never in his life gone without a Boston Terrier....I know losing Sage 1.5 years ago was the hardest thing he's gone through....So after losing her and Biskit, we were down to 2 dogs...This past summer, we were able to acquire Ellie and Sugar through Animal Control and the Humane Society so back up to 4 dogs:)...I can't recall when I started looking at ABTR (American Boston Terrier Rescue) website...I do know it had to have been sometime last Fall...I love looking at our local Humane Society and City of Animal Services facebook pages daily, so it just became another constant that I would often check for any updates...I would always show Kerry the dogs on the website....And I guess about February he said something along the lines of "You wore me down" and"You did this to me" and before we knew it, we were kind of searching for another Boston Terrier....Hunter is 15 years old so we didn't plan on another dog until he passed away....Then it was well let's start looking but we probably don't need another dog until this summer when I get out of school with the kids...

I told my sister that I think we were ready to adopt another dog...We went to dinner on a Saturday night and I actually showed her a picture of Angus Young, Mick Jagger and Ohio State Redeye...I asked her if Katrena (over at Animal Control) and Sue (who does chihuahua rescue her in town) would be references for us...My sister couldn't be a reference since she was a family member eventhough we use her PETS clinic for shots, heartworm preventative, spay/neutering, etc....It was a few days after that, I randomly decided to email Wanda with ABTR (March 14th to be exact)...Thankfully Sue had already hollared at Wanda letting her know about us:) Wanda replied back that she thought both Mick and Angus were adopted and sent our email to Audrey, Red's foster mom...Audrey sent us this long email back that just melted our hearts....Here is what Red looked like on their website the first time we ever saw him....

Let me tell you guys a little about Red from the website...He was one of 15 dogs dumped off at the local shelter in Commerce after the laws changed for backyard breeders...Red's whole life was probably spent in a cage with no one loving him...He was there to be bred and make money and that was probably about it..Sad life; one that makes me angry at humans....He was a skinny little guy with a few different types of worms...ABTR got him fixed up...Thankfully he was heartworm negative but he had some teeth that needed to be pulled...He got neutered...And I'm just assuming this guy had juvenile cataracts and since there was no vet care, he know has cataracts and is completely blind....His front top and bottom teeth are completely worn down to practically nubs...Most likely from just chewing on his cage since he had nothing else better to do...

But Audrey (foster mommy) and I corresponded a few times...Thankfully she had a facebook page where we could look at pictures of "Red: the Foster dog album" and the best part was seeing some videos of him too...Then I friended her on facebook and we chatted through messages...If we didn't see a new picture of him like daily, I would ask for her to post one..Here is one that she did for us:)

I decided that we might as well go ahead and get the application filled out, get the process going and become approved adopters so that if/when we were ready to adopt, we would already be ready to go..I mailed in our application on Wednesday March 20th...I came home on Thursday the 21st at lunch and told Kerry I think we should just go and get Red on the 30th...It was Easter weekend, we didn't have a soccer game and I thought maybe we could somehow work out meeting Audrey halfway to get him...That evening she messaged me saying she got a new job and was going to have to take Red back to Wanda on the 30th...I honestly knew right then he was meant to be ours...Kerry said well I knew that like last week but I didn't want to say anything--haha....I got a call on Saturday the 23rd from ABTR asking a few questions and saying they would be calling our references that weekend...We had our home visit on Monday, Wanda called me on Tuesday and I said we wanted Red if she would allow us to adopt him....And just like that in a matter of 2 weeks, we were getting our 5th dog!!....Sweet Audrey posted these on Facebook that night...Cutest dog ever!

Then it was just a matter of waiting till the 30th...The day we wanted him to begin with was going to work out perfectly...He was being transported from San Antonio and would be in our arms Saturday afternoon at some point...Luckily, my sister took Kohen to Dallas and my mom kept Kresee...Red got in Audrey's car with her sweet pup, Bolli and drove from San Antonio to Austin..I cried when I saw Audrey post a picture on facebook getting in the car with her...My heart broke knowing she was happy and so sad to see him go.....In Austin, Audrey met up with Tammy (who adopted Mick). Tammy drove Red to Belton where he hopped in the car with another Tammy....That Tammy drove him from Belton to Dallas where they met up with a man named Jim...Jim then drove Red to Denton where he got in the car with Wanda...And Wanda had us meet her in Muenster...Here are a few pics during his long day and in between legs...

We were so stinking excited that we just kept watching every car like crazy waiting for a blue Kia van...She pulled up after about 10 minutes and I couldn't hop out fast enough...This was the first time we got to see our sweet boy in person...Isn't he handsome??...Kerry said he was even better looking in person:)

Audrey is texting "is it happening yet?!?" so I had Wanda snap a picture of the 3 of us so I could show Audrey it was indeed happening...Love John Stamos back there in our picture:)

Kerry who fell in love from Audrey's pictures and videos got to hold his sweet boy...Red melted into his arms:)...He wasn't nervous at all....Can you imagine that day he's already had at this point and on top of that being blind...Poor guy had a loooong day of riding in the car...

We signed all the papework to adopt Red officially and we were on our way back home...Just one more hour big guy...He didn't shake and seem nervous one bit...He slept/snored in my lap the whole way home and was completely content....

His day wasn't over though...He had know idea he was about to meet 4 other dogs in this brand new place...We introduced them one by one out in the front yard...They all did great and we had no issues at all...Then we all went in the back together and let them all run around together...I can't believe we have 5 dogs---haha....Red sniffed and explored...We have a really big backyard so there was lots of exploring to do....I lined the outside and inside of our 2 back doors with vanilla extract so he would learn those doors quickly...I think he figured out the doors within a day or two...Smart guy...We have 3 water bowls and I have two out that will be easy for him and he already knows where they are....

Then if that wasn't enough two little kids had to come home and meet him too...Kresee got home first and she has been so excited to meet Red...She just followed him and he did super...Then Kohen came home and was pretty pumped about Red as well...In fact on Wednesday before we got Red, I overheard Kohen saying stuff like "Hey boy, come here Red, whatcha doing Red"....I said what are you doing Kohen..."Mom, we only have 2 more days till we get him...I'm just practicing!"...Too precious...These kids were in love and I think Red was loving them...

We put his new crate and new bed in our room...He did great and slept in it all night and didn't make a peep...

He found some bones...We have several laying around and I'm glad he like them:)

He enjoys snoozing and isn't this sweet of him in Kohen's bed during a bedtime story this week...

I can't believe we've already had him one week...He learned the backyard completely within about 48 hours...He didn't venture around the house the first few days--he would only walk in the kitchen or around our bedroom...But he pretty much has it all down now...I've been amazed at how well he has adapted to our house...He' done amazing...He bumps into things sometimes but mainly when he's just exploring other parts of the house...

Sunday morning after his first night, he came over to my side and raised up...So I plopped him on our bed and we went right back to sleep:)

We figured out on night 4 Red is terrified of lightening storms...Every time the lightening lit up our room, he would panick, pant and pace in his crate...He kept whining and so he slept in the bed with us...Needless to say, Red is officially a bed sleeper and loves being up there with us and a few other dogs...We had him at the vet on Tuesday morning and she thought he might be able to see some light...I think the lightening storm confirmed that;)

The kids are sure loving him and think he's pretty great...I don't think he's been around kids much...So he figured out really quick they were kids...So their little voices and playing get him fired up in true Boston fashion...We have to get him to calm down and snap out of psycho boston mode...Haha....But he's doing great with them...

He takes many naps...Here he is on my lap while I sat in the kitchen floor on my lunch break...It was on Monday and I hated that I was away from him all morning...So instead of eating, I sat there and enjoyed him....

In the evenings, he loves laying on the bed of course and as close to Kerry and I as possible....

We flipped him on his back the other night and he did well...He was a little stiff but didn't take long to realize I was just going to give him a belly rub...Then he was quite all right:)

When I get out of school for the year, Kerry and I are going to take him to Animal Opthamalogy in Dallas just for a consult...I just wanna see what they are able to tell us about Red and his eyesight...Honestly, the guy compensates really well and again I'm amazed at how great he does...He's laying right here at my feet as I finish this long post...I'm so glad that he was with ABTR for the many months he was...I know many people passed up on a great dog because of his blindness...I think that's was made us want him even more...He is precious and so special....