Meet Willie!

I recently had a little debut party for Willie with some of my neighbors and friends, and today I want to have a virtual version of that on my blog! I already shared the story of how we adopted him, and now I'm going to tell you all about his personality and who he is. This is the latest post in a series where I introduce our road trip "team"--you can read about Casper (now in heaven) here, Grace here, and me here and here. We love Willie a lot, and we can't wait for our upcoming adventures together. I'm so excited to officially introduce him on Have Dog, Will Drive!

I think the easiest way to introduce Willie in this post is the same way I introduced Casper in his--by answering some of the common questions I get about him. If you have any others, feel free to leave a comment or use my Contact page!

Where did Willie come from? What is his past? 

If you've read the story of how we adopted Willie (linked above), then you know that we got him from the same shelter as Casper, the West LA Animal Shelter. He was in the shelter for about a year before we adopted him. His life before that is a little bit of a mystery, but we've picked up on a few clues. His intake form says that he was found as a stray, but the volunteers mentioned that his previous owner died. I guess both could be true. But overall, we don't have a lot of information about his past. What we do know is that a few months before we adopted him, he got adopted from the shelter by someone else. It turns out that they adopted him as a companion for their existing dog, a chihuahua. Well, from the way the volunteers told it, the chihuahua really didn't care for Willie, and the people gave him back to the shelter. BUT, they returned him to a different shelter, the South LA Animal Shelter, which has a very high euthanasia rate. When the volunteers at West LA got wind of this, they worked for a month to do an inter-shelter transfer to get him back, because they loved him so much! So that's how he ended up back at West LA, where we found him. Also, shoutout to the West LA Animal Shelter volunteers. They are truly amazing. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to adopt Willie OR Casper!

Just based on Willie's personality and markings on his body (or lack thereof), it seems like he had a pretty "normal" life until he had a stint of bad luck and ended up in the shelter for a year. His skin, coat, and eyes are healthy and shining, he doesn't have the markings of having been abused or fought, and he LOVES other dogs. Unlike his poor older brother Casper who was too traumatized from his early life to ever be around other dogs, Willie is extremely well socialized. We joke that he calls the vet's office the West Hollywood Social Club. It's clear that he hasn't had negative experiences with other dogs like Casper did.

His age is a little bit of a mystery as well. Based on vet records from his previous owner, he might be as old as 6. But he just does not feel that old to me. He prances around like a puppy, and his skin has the elasticity of a very young dog. Part of me wonders if the vet records could be inaccurate or from a different dog (they only vaguely describe the dog, and the weight is off by about 30 pounds). If I had no context, I would guess that he is 3 years old. But, in the end it doesn't really matter.

The one other thing we've noticed about Willie that might point to his past is that he is extremely bow-legged. Because of this, he gets pretty tired and sometimes limps on one side. It looks like he possibly had an injury that didn't heal properly at a young age, or maybe he was just born with an odd bone structure on his front legs. It doesn't bother us at all and doesn't seem to bother him. We've had the vet look at it and been assured that it is nothing to worry about. But when you adopt an older dog, you always kind of raise an eyebrow at their funny physical quirks and say, how did you get THAT? Haha!

What kind of dog is he?

Great question! I would like to test his DNA at some point. My parents tested their dog (a mixed breed from a shelter), and the results were really interesting. Willie can definitely be classified as a pit bull-type, but his ears have everyone stumped, even the vet! So far the guesses for what he's mixed with that I have heard the most are bull terrier (different from a pit bull; do a google image search if you haven't heard of this breed) or possibly a bit of German Shepherd or Australian Shepherd mixed in. Though I will say, SO many people have said he looks like a dingo! As in, "a dingo ate my baby" (apologies if you don't get that reference). A dingo is a wild, undomesticated Australian dog that lives out in the bush. It would be considered an exotic animal to have one as a pet, like keeping a hyena in your house. They are illegal to export from Australia, so I very highly doubt he has any dingo in him. But my dad is convinced from the photos he's seen. I'm pretty sure he's about 80% pit bull (or Staffordshire Terrier, if there's really any difference) and maybe 20% some other type of terrier or shepherd dog. In other words, his parents and grandparents were probably all pit bull types, and maybe one of his great grandparents was mixed with some other type of dog.

Does he know his new name? Does he know that you and Grace are his parents?

Yes, he knows his name is Willie! He learned that within a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if he really responded to his assigned name in the shelter (Teddy) or knew it, but he has adjusted smoothly to being Willie.  (If you're curious why we renamed him, read my post about adopting him). And I think he definitely knows that Grace and I are his moms. Pit bull breeds are generally clingy dogs (which I LOVE), and Willie loves to be touching at least one of us at all times. It's so adorable to me. If I'm sitting on the couch and Willie is too, he will make sure that at least his tail or paw is touching my leg or whatever. If I move away slightly, he will readjust so that he is still touching me. It makes me melt. Also, I have stepped in on several occasions to find Grace and Willie napping like this:

And it makes my heart explode.

He does get pretty worried when we leave the house, but I'm hoping he will get more and more calm as he learns that we always come back for him. Whenever we leave from Grace's house, he runs to the front window and shoves his head through the blinds to see us walking down the sidewalk to our car. It's pretty heartbreaking and cute. Sometimes, we'll be gone for over an hour and come back to him still looking out the window for us. He's not frantic or anything, I think he just misses us! We've all bonded a lot.

One thing that was unexpectedly nice was that Grace and I each independently went out of town for about a week during the first month we had Willie. So while I was out of town, Grace kept Willie by herself, and then when Grace left, Willie and I hung out for a week. Although it's always better when we're all together, I think we really enjoyed having one-on-one time with him and letting him know that we're both his moms.

What is his personality like?

Willie is so funny. He makes us laugh all the time. On almost every walk, he turns around at some point and walks backwards and smiles at me. He also loves to sprint alongside Grace and race her. He's a very playful guy. With other dogs, he's pretty submissive. He usually kind of politely sniffs them and then waits for them to invite him to play or "make the first move." One hilarious (to me) thing about him is that if we're on a walk and he gets to meet another dog, he gets SO hyper right after we walk away. He gets this burst of excitement and energy from making a new friend and suddenly sprints forward and looks up at me with a huge smile, like, "did you see me mom?!? I made a FRIEND!" 

We are lucky that Willie isn't destructive at all. He doesn't chew or dig or anything like that. However, sometimes we will come home to find things strangely moved around. Things in low-to-the-ground shelves will be rustled through, or something on a tabletop will be moved. One time he rifled through my clothes in a packed duffle bag! It's so weird but funny. I don't really mind it, because he's never broken or damaged anything--it's just clear that he is curious and sniffs around the house when we're gone. 

Willie is such a happy and good dog. We knew that he had some BIG paws to fill after his big brother Casper, but he's completely stolen our hearts in his own right. All those feelings of it being "meant to be" that I wrote about when we adopted him have only solidified since then. 

What are some of his favorite things?

If Willie could talk, I have no doubt that the #1 thing he would tell me to write about in this blog post would be his baby, Lambchop. See the photo below:

Every dog I have ever had (growing up or as an adult) has loved to destroy stuffed toys. I know there are even companies that advertise their toys' ability to withstand dogs' destructive tendencies. So imagine my surprise when my new dog, Willie, wants nothing more than to lick, groom, and carry around his little baby stuffed animal! We realized this about him a couple of weeks after adopting him. He picked out Lambchop (or Lammy for short) at our local dog store (he seriously picked him out of a pile of toys), and they have been inseparable ever since. He gently carries Lammy everywhere with him; he even sets him down beside his food bowl at meal time! If Lammy squeaks (he has squeakers in him), Willie gets very worried about him. Sometimes he even brings Lammy to us to ask what is wrong. We tend to Lammy and pat him, and Willie feels better. Lammy is like his little brother that he takes care of. Willie has this maternal streak that is just precious to me. I've never seen a dog do this!

He also loves beds, and it's so funny. I mean, who doesn't love beds?! But this dog takes it to another level. If we take him over to a friend's house, we have to guard their bed so that he doesn't jump on it. And when I was sick with the flu, he stayed in bed more than I did! I was so worried that he would get restless or bored while I wallowed in bed for an entire 48 hours (literally only getting up to get food or water or take him on 3-4 short walks a day), but he actually spent MORE time in bed than I did. Another thing he loves to do is to play a game if we try to get him down from the bed--he will pounce to each corner and jump away from us. He thinks it's hilarious! And, honestly, it is, but we try not to let him know that. One time he jumped on Grace's bed right after taking a bath and rolled around on it with his wet fur. I felt so badly because Grace was mad, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't catch him to pull him off the bed!

Willie also loves his dog friends. His best friend is our friend Daron's dog named Wally. They are so cute together! We recently took Willie to a playgroup in West Hollywood, and he had a great time and we plan on going back. He plays well with other dogs and usually finds one friend that he particularly takes a liking to. The size of other dogs doesn't seem to matter to him; we've seen him play with a huge Dogo Argentino (probably over 100 pounds) and also with Wally, who is tiny.

Willie and Wally, the two best friends that anyone could have.

What are his dislikes?

I mentioned above that he gets nervous when we leave him, and that's definitely his biggest dislike. I'm confident he will get more comfortable with it, though. He also does NOT like fruits or vegetables. I know that sounds dumb; why would you feed a dog fruits or vegetables? But his brother Casper loved some fresh watermelon on a hot day, and Willie won't touch it. I also tried putting some canned green beans in Willie's food for extra fiber to help his digestion (my dog growing up used to love this), and I was shocked when he finished every bite of dog food but left a little pile of slightly chewed green beans at the bottom of the bowl. He's like a little kid who will not eat his veggies. Thankfully, he's a dog, so that's okay.

One other funny thing that he doesn't like is when people pick up other dogs. He really likes small dogs, but we've noticed that he gets extremely distressed if someone picks up a small dog--especially his best friend Wally. I think it's his maternal streak; he wants to be able to see his friends so he can make sure they're okay! He's similar when there's been a squabble at playgroup. He will rush over to the dogs and try to break up the fight (not talking about anything serious here, just a little play fighting between dogs). Grace always says he's a lover, not a fighter!

What does he eat/what medicines does he take/etc.?

As I've gotten to know more and more dog parents, I get these questions, and I love it! I think it's so great to be candid, if you are comfortable, about what you feed your dog, what works what what doesn't, etc. I know a personal recommendation is always better than an online review. 

That said, we are still working out the kinks of what to feed Willie and the best preventative medications to give him. For the first month we had Willie, we fed him Pulsar Fish dog food, a grain free salmon-based food. Then because we ran out and couldn't find it again (it's a small brand), we switched him to Pure Vita Salmon and Pea Grain-Free dog food. We experimented with topping his food with fermented fish stock and Kefir, a cultured milk product recommended by many vets. The reason we are still working on perfecting Willie's diet is that he has consistently had some minor digestive issues. Right now, he's on a round of anti-diarrheal pills and eats probiotic powder sprinkled onto his food. Our vet has also recommended that we slowly switch him to a duck, rabbit, or venison-based food, because he might have a fish allergy (and those three types of food bases have a very low rate of allergies). We have had luck in feeding Willie pumpkin to help with digestion, and he likes it a lot.

For his preventatives, he has in the past gotten an over-the-counter topical flea and tick treatment. However, for our Alaska trip, we wanted him to have top of the line protection because of how much time he will be spending outdoors. So now, he is on Bravecto for flea and tick prevention (it's nice because it's just one pill every three months), and Trifexis for flea, heartworm, and intestinal parasite prevention. We overlap on the flea part with both meds, but it's safe! The interesting thing about heartworm prevention is that I have been told it's not necessary in Southern California. Heartworms are spread through mosquitoes, and we don't really have those here. For a few other reasons, heartworm infestations are extremely rare in LA. But because we're going to be taking Willie to 12 states and provinces and another country in a month, we need to protect against them, just to be safe.

Another thing I would like to get Willie started on is some kind of joint supplement, especially given the bow-leggedness I described. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears :)

Thanks for reading about our sweet, funny boy!

(I know I've shared this photo on my blog before, but I just always think it will be one of my favorites of him)

Our Journey to Adopting a New Pup!

It's true! We adopted a new fur baby a couple of weeks ago. I am going to introduce him here in a separate post soon (kind of like my Meet Grace and Meet Casper posts), but first, I wanted to share a little bit about our path to bringing him home. 

Soon after Casper died, we had a few people ask us whether/when we would get another dog. Some assumed it was a foregone conclusion, and others asked about it gingerly, not knowing if we were even ready to think about it. The truth is, we were ready to at least think about it almost immediately, because we simply don't know what our lives look like without a dog. We also knew that we would get a dog through a shelter or rescue organization, and the sooner we could bring one home, the less time that particular dog would have to sleep in a concrete kennel instead of in a warm bed. That said, we had no idea what the process of adopting again would look like.

With Casper, we weren't expecting to get a 7 year old, 80-pound pit bull with a dark past. It just kind of worked out that way (you can read more about the story in this post). So, we thought, where do we start when we know we want to adopt an older rescue pit bull (or pit bull mix)? It was kind of like working backwards, unlike when we adopted Casper out of happenstance. And Grace made me promise that we wouldn't get attached to any photo we found online or any particular rescue organization. She also said that the process would probably take a few weeks--we needed to dip our toes in first, meeting a few dogs and introducing ourselves to organizations while also donating some of Casper's stuff and just getting ourselves more comfortable with the idea of letting a new pup into our hearts.

For some reason, my thought going into the process was that adopting through a rescue organization this time "made sense" more so than adopting from a shelter. When dogs are in these organizations' systems, they tend to be more socialized, better with people and other dogs, and the organization will be able to tell you a lot more about the dogs' personalities and histories because they've worked closely with them. At a shelter, the dogs stay in individual small kennels/cages for the vast majority of their days, and their history is often totally unknown if they were found as a stray (like Casper was). Even though we adopted Casper from a shelter and loved him to pieces, I felt like lightning wouldn't strike twice--we needed to go through an organization that was, for lack of a better word, a little more organized than a shelter.

Well, as many people have said, we make plans and God laughs. The process didn't take a few weeks, it took 2 days, and we didn't adopt from an organization, we adopted from the exact shelter where we got Casper. But let me back up and tell the full story.

To be honest, I had lot of anxiety surrounding the process of adopting another dog. When Casper died, it felt SO unplanned and uncontrollable. I felt like searching for our next dog was a process that I could control, and so I desperately tried to. Grace gently reminded me that I couldn't control this, either. She promised me that we wouldn't end up with a dog that wasn't "our dog," and we also wouldn't leave behind a dog that WAS "our dog." As soon as we started thinking about adopting again, I spent a lot of time on the websites and Instagrams of several organizations that seemed like a good fit for us. I researched and eventually got in contact with NKLA, Angel City Pit Bulls, and Downtown Dog Rescue. One day after work, we decided to drive over to NKLA's adoption center just to check it out and see what it felt like meeting a few dogs. We were amazed at the facility there; it is the nicest dog rescue I have ever seen. We even asked to take a couple of dogs out of their kennels to meet them. They were sweet and we had fun with them, but it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to be our next dog. We went home, feeling encouraged by the experience of "getting out there" in regards to looking for another dog.

Two days later, we had an appointment to meet some dogs at Downtown Dog Rescue. We LOVED their mission of helping homeless and low-income people keep their dogs (they offer veterinary services and supplies at reduced or no cost), and they also have a kennel where rescue dogs are up for adoption. Our experience there was so special. The setup is lovely--I recommend anyone looking for a rescue to consider them. Feel free to use my contact page if you want to know more about how to get in touch with them; the process is a little different from just walking into your local shelter. We met some amazing dogs there. I even thought one or two of them could be "the one," but Grace pointed out some issues that we probably weren't prepared to deal with at this stage in our lives (i.e. extremely high energy, not house-trained, etc.). So while we left feeling like we most likely hadn't met our dog yet, it was still a great visit, and we got to donate some of Casper's items to be used by dogs in need. We loved that.

After leaving Downtown Dog Rescue, the one other thing Grace and I wanted to accomplish that day was to go by the West LA Animal Shelter, where we adopted Casper, to bring the volunteers flowers and just to tell them about Casper and how much we appreciate the work they do. We drove over to that side of town and picked up a flower arrangement on the way. As we were arriving at the shelter, Grace took a wrong turn and ended up on the back side of the facility, where the staff/volunteer parking lot is located. Right at that moment, Grace sees a car pull up to the parking lot--and she recognizes the driver. It was the same volunteer who helped us adopt Casper! She is an older, no-nonsense lady who loves animals more than anything and demands that they be respected. When we were first looking at Casper (at age 23 and 24--haha!) she told us we weren't ready. It kind of rubbed us the wrong way (even though WE weren't sure we were ready, either), but after Grace visited every day for a week to prove herself, she trusted Grace and gave her blessing over the adoption. She told Grace, "just remember, this is another heartbeat." That always stuck with both of us, even though we never saw that lady again. Until today. 

We walked into the lobby of the shelter with the flowers, and the volunteer lady came in at the same time. We walked over to her, saying that she might not remember us, but we adopted an older dog here a few years ago and we wanted to bring flowers in his memory since he recently passed away. We showed her a picture. She started crying. "Yes, I do remember that dog. I always wondered how his life turned out." We told her about how he had seen the whole state--Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Big Sur, San Diego, the Bay Area, etc. We were all tearing up. Then the lady asked us, "Are you ready for your next dog?" We hesitated--"kind of! We are JUST starting to look; we really just want to meet some dogs and ease into it." She said "okay, look around, take your time. You've been here before. But when you're ready, I have a special dog for you to meet."

I kind of knew it was all over as soon as she said that. She pointed him out to us. His name in the shelter was Teddy, and he'd been there for almost a year. He was roughly 6 years old. He had a special sign on his kennel to help people notice him, just like Casper did (I included a photo of it below). In the picture, he's wearing a red bandanna. Casper always wore a red bandanna. And in the back corner of his kennel is a black Kong. Casper had the EXACT same kind, and it was his favorite toy. Looking around, we noticed that this dog was the only one in the shelter with a Kong in his kennel. That's a weird coincidence, we thought.

We walked around and looked at other dogs. There were some really sweet ones. Though it's sad to see them in such small spaces without a lot to occupy them or keep them happy, we kept saying what good "energy" this shelter had, as silly as that may sound. Memories started flooding back--the spot where I took the first photo of Grace and Casper, the play area where we first took him out and played fetch. It was bittersweet but special to remember those first visits with him. But during all of this, we kept thinking about this dog that the volunteer pointed out to us. She knew we were open to an older dog, that we were used to a medium to low energy dog, and that we took a lot of road trips. What could it hurt to take him out of his kennel and meet him? So we did. My palms actually started sweating, I was so excited to meet this dog. He ran up to us in the play yard and stretched his legs, taking interest in a few toys that were on the ground but mostly just taking in his surroundings and meeting us. All the while, volunteers are singing this dog's praises. One even showed us a video on her phone of him performing an agility course! He was amazing, so fast and strong. But also so gentle and timid. Even though we were used to Casper's issues with other dogs and were open to a dog with "issues" again, we come to find out that this dog is actually the one the shelter would use for "temperament testing" to check whether other dogs were okay around dogs, since he was so friendly and mellow. They even introduced him to a cat in front of us and he was fine! Grace looks at me over the dog's head and her eyes are dancing. She nods quickly and I "give the signal" back. This was the one.

But, we were really not prepared to get a dog THAT day. We had already donated all of Casper's stuff, so we had literally no supplies--no bed, no collar or leash, etc. We had been thinking that when we found "our dog," we would sleep on it for a couple of days and do 1-2 additional visits while we got everything ready for him. But when we expressed that to the volunteers, they explained something we hadn't realized. This particular weekend all of the dogs at the shelter were completely free to adopt. They said that while this is a great promotion, it sometimes backfires in that the wrong people adopt a dog. After hearing about the life we gave Casper, they REALLY wanted us to take this dog, especially given that he was the volunteers' favorite and they wanted him to experience a real home. What's more, this dog had already been adopted by the wrong person once and GIVEN BACK a month later to a high-kill shelter! The West LA shelter had spent another month trying to get him back and save him from being euthanized for overcrowding. As soon as we thought about the fact that someone else could swoop in and get "our dog" on a weekend when they see a high turnover rate because the dogs are free, we knew we had to take him right then and there.

The only other problem was that we didn't have a leash and collar to take him home with, which was obviously necessary. However, a sweet volunteer let us borrow her leash and collar and told us that her daughter owned a pet store just down the street. She suggested that we use her leash and collar to go to the pet store, buy our own, and then leave the loaner with her daughter so she could get it back. As we were getting everything ready for the adoption, volunteers started crowding around, tears in their eyes to see this sweet dog get a forever home. We told them about our plans to drive to Alaska and they started digging out supplies, wanting to send us off with coats for him, beds, etc. They didn't end up finding a coat that fit perfectly, but we told them we had plenty of time before September to get him outfitted. They gave us email addresses, wanting us to send photos of him in Alaska and Canada. We were surrounded by love, and we felt so sure that this pup was meant to be ours--in fact, that Casper had anointed him just for us.

Waiting in line to officially sign the adoption papers, we realized that we needed a name. His name was Teddy in the shelter, but I didn't love it for him. I know a (very sweet) dog named Teddy, but he is VERY different from our dog, and it seemed weird for them to have the same name. To top it off, Grace's brother once had a ferret named Teddy that met a very sad demise . . . so the name just wasn't doing it for us. I pulled out my phone, where I'd been making a list of potential girl and boy dog names. Following our RuPaul experience from the day after Casper died (read here if you don't know the story), we were pretty sure that our next dog would be named Ru. But when we met this dog, he just didn't seem like a Ru. We even tried calling him Ru at the shelter to see what he thought, but he was not into it. We considered a few others, including Earnest and Tag, but they weren't right, either. We thought harder. Grace said, "what about Billie?" The lady volunteer who led us to both Casper and this dog is named Billie, so what if we named this dog in her honor? But I didn't really love it for a boy; I thought it was darling as a girl name. Then Grace said, "well how about Willie? Like Willie Nelson? We're getting 'On the Road Again' with our next dog." I instantly loved it. It's a nod to Billie, our shelter guardian angel, and I love the "On the Road Again" idea. We even realized another little connection--Free Willie (though spelled differently than the movie), since he was free at the shelter. On the drive home, we played and sung along to "On the Road Again," and our Willie loved it. The name was perfect. His full name is "Willie Nelson Baldridge" (Grace's last name).

Grace walking out of the shelter with Willie. After having been in there for a year, to say he was excited is an understatement!

Later, after naming Willie, we had another moment kind of like the RuPaul story--a coincidence that we knew couldn't be a coincidence. I'll try to make this one short. After Casper died, Grace's amazing dad sent me a book as a birthday gift, called The Gospel According to Sam. It's written by Father Bill Miller, and it's about the experience of loving, and eventually losing, a dog named Sam, and the spiritual lessons that came along with that. It's a wonderful book. During the process of grieving, Grace would read aloud to me passages from the book while I was cooking dinner for us. It has some amazing stories, and we were so taken with Sam, a dog we never even met. Well, Grace's dad didn't mention this when he sent the book, but he actually knows the author personally (as they are both ordained in the Episcopal Church, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised). Grace wasn't aware that her dad knew the author either. A little while after we adopted Willie, I messaged Grace's dad to thank him for the book. He told me that Father Bill, the author, actually came to stay with him and Grace's mom in Belgium after Sam (the dog) died. Then, he casually threw in--"by the way, this isn't in the book, but Bill's new dog is also named Willie Nelson." WHAT?! I about fell out of my chair when I read that. Grace and I had no way of knowing that when we named Willie. I racked my brain for ways we might have subliminally gotten the idea for using it as a dog's name through Grace's dad or something, but there's zero chance because Grace and I had no clue. Plus, Grace had independently been listening to a lot of (the singer) Willie Nelson around the time we adopted Willie, so it's a true coincidence. And yet, of course it's not. It's meant to be, and it's another sign that we are on the right path with this dog, even though we have no idea where we're going, still wading in a sea of sadness and shock from losing Casper. But "coincidences" like this one give us strength.

I'll explain much more about his personality in my Meet Willie post (soon to come), but one thing about him is that he is FUNNY. From day one, he has made me laugh so hard. He's a quirky, special guy, and we are so excited for everything to come with him. It's so strange and funny that he's coming with us to Alaska--a trip we meticulously planned for Casper. But it feels right. Grace keeps saying, "Willie, you hit the jackpot! Get excited for your all expenses paid trip to Canada and Alaska!"

In the meantime, we are getting to know each other better and better. After being the shelter for so long, it makes sense that Willie would need some time to come out of his shell. He's shy but so, so sweet. He's already made some dog friends--it's a weird experience introducing your dog to other dogs and letting them play when your last dog could never do that due to abuse and aggression issues. But it's special, too. We're lucky. We LOVE shelter dogs and feel that it is so right for us to adopt an older dog. Willie came to us house-trained, socialized, and we've barely heard a peep out of him in terms of barking or whining. But it is different than just getting a puppy (I think it's better!). For that reason, and because we are still feeling so tender about losing Casper, we have taken our time introducing him to people, and I've stayed pretty quiet about the adoption until now. But as he adjusts to his new life and as we get to know him better, I have a feeling he is going to be Mister Popular. He's truly a GOOD dog.

Willie's getting pretty comfortable in his new life.

I can't overstate the mix of emotions, the raw feelings, the highs and lows, and the beauty of the experience of losing Casper and adopting Willie in such a short span of time. On our first full day with Willie, I sobbed, feeling like I was going to tear my hair out at the thought of never seeing Casper's face again in this lifetime (this has been a thought that has haunted me since he's died; I don't know why I'm having such a hard time accepting it). Me having an emotional meltdown had nothing to do with Willie--it's just that I'm very much still grieving Casper. In fact, it helped a lot to have a dog to snuggle when I was feeling so sad. I KNOW that it's right for us to have adopted Willie when we did. Casper picked him out for us. But I will admit, the timing is funny and confusing. Such is life.

One of the first times I was alone with Willie, I just stared at him, and he silently stared back with huge golden eyes. As I looked at him, I thought, "Oh, Willie. Look at you. I don't even know you yet, and I've already accepted the fact that you're going to wiggle your way into my heart more and more with every day that passes. We're going to drive thousands of miles and have countless adventures together. Am I going to hold you across my lap as you take your last breath; am I going to have to find the strength to lift you on your last day when you can't walk anymore, like Casper? Am I going to cry a hundred thousand tears once you're gone?"

It's too much to wrap my head around right now, this ebb and flow, change and consistency, circles of life, and love of dogs. But here we are, on the road again, with Willie Nelson Baldridge.

Meet Casper!

For anyone that might be reading who doesn't know Casper, or even for those who do, I wanted to take a minute today to formally introduce him on Have Dog, Will Drive! He is the dog behind that title and a lot of the inspiration for Grace and me to get outside more and explore new places.

Casper is a special guy, and he is beloved by many. I thought a good way to introduce him would be to answer some questions we often get about him:

1. When/where did you get him, and how old is he? Grace adopted Casper on October 11, 2014, at the West LA Animal Shelter. We first visited him about a week prior, when Grace suggested we go check out our local animal shelter to see what kind of volunteer opportunities they had available (famous last words). We decided to stroll the hallways of kennels and just visit some pooches that were up for adoption, when we noticed this one dog hiding in the back of his kennel looking dejected. Every other dog was coming up to the front of the gate, putting their paws up, smiling, and generally hamming it up. But this one (at the time, temporarily named Logan by the shelter) looked depressed and mangy, and the little schedule/notepad outside his door said that he hadn't finished any of his meals in the past few days. Also on a sign outside the door, there was a message that said something like "Before You Walk Away! Please give this dog a chance. He is a gentleman of a dog, and all the volunteers love walking him." That made Grace's heart skip a beat, because her family had always described their dog Max (who passed away about a year and a half before this) as a "gentleman." Below is a photo of Grace with Casper for the first time, when we got to take him out of the kennel and play with him.

He was extremely skittish and would not make eye contact with us. He was also covered in scabs and scars. I'll admit, he didn't seem like much. But Grace felt something tugging at her heartstrings, and though we didn't adopt him right then, over the next week she went back to visit him every morning before work (I was back in Berkeley at this point). On the next Saturday, she went back and brought him home! He was stiff and nervous at first, not sure what this new life was going to be. But he quickly warmed up, going from being super shy to a super clingy, 65-pound (now 80; he was malnourished at the time) lap dog. Based on our vet's estimation, we think he is about 9 years old at this point, and we celebrate his "birthday" on October 11, his adoption day.

2. What happened to him in the past, and why was he in the shelter as an older dog? We don't have a full answer to this question, but we have pieced a backstory together through a few different clues. Before Casper was brought to the shelter, he was found running loose in West LA. He was beat up and skinny. It turned out, he did have a microchip (the little chip in dogs' ears that give information to shelters and vets if they run away or get lost), and the shelter called the number associated with it. Whoever answered told them that yes, he was their dog, but they didn't want him anymore. It's like a knife to the heart hearing that about my precious pup, but some people just do not have compassion for animals (as my dad likes to say, they're "going to a hot place"). Casper has a lot of teeth mark scars on his body--two in between his eyes, a few on his back legs, and some rough scar tissue on his ears and tail. Based on this, it seems like he was part of an amateur fighting situation but likely wasn't very good at it. He was also nervous when we first got him, and was afraid of belts, indicating he was beaten with one. Again, it breaks my heart. But that's just the reality of his life for about 6-7 years before he ended up with us. Below are a few photos that showed what he looked like when we first got him--because I was in Berkeley for most of this time, most of what I have are screenshots of Snapchats and Instagrams and grainy photos!

Just days after we adopted him; he is wearing a bow tie but his snout is covered in scabs

3. With a dark past like that, is he dangerous? This is an understandable question that people often have. There are two parts to it. The first, which is the good news: he is a gentle little baby lamb around every human (of any age) that he has ever met. He doesn't jump up, bark, or growl. He's shy but excited to meet every person we walk past on the street. He's a little cuddle bug, and if he finds someone at a party who will scratch his ears and above his tail, he will stay glued to that person's legs the entire night. In short, he's a gentleman and a sweetheart. He trusts humans, despite everything they've put him through. The second part, though, is a little more complicated: he cannot be around other dogs. He is terrified of them and will not react well. On walks around the neighborhood, it's not a big problem; if a dog is on the other side of the street or even 20 yards ahead of us, Casper pays it no attention. However, if face-to-face with another dog, he will go into fight or flight mode. We've been extremely lucky to learn that quickly and not put him in situations where he would be faced with another dog. He's never gotten into a fight or anything like that. It's just something we know to be true about him, and we plan accordingly. Also, we are able to occasionally board him (though we avoid it because it's very stressful for Casper) through Brandon Fouche's facility, where Casper is off leash with other dogs and has no problems (he just hides from them and avoids them). I'm planning on doing a whole separate post about our training journey with Casper, so for now, I'll just say that Brandon is a miracle worker and has helped us get Casper's issues with other dogs in check to a point that I rarely think or worry about it anymore. Which, from 2014 to now, is an amazing and huge change.

4. Is it hard to take care of him while working full time? This is actually the most common question I get about Casper. Most of my friends in LA do not have dogs of their own at this stage in life, in part because they're not sure if they would have the time and money to care for one properly. I think it's very considerate and responsible to have that in mind, but at the same time, I would encourage anyone to consider adopting an older dog as a way of having a companion that does not need as much attention and will be forever grateful to you.

Grace's schedule is more flexible than mine, so she ends up taking him on walks and caring for him a lot. But that said, there are times when she is out of town, and I take care of him on my own. Even though I'm gone at work from around 7:15am-5pm, he is just fine hanging out and sleeping at home during those hours. I take him on about 2 long walks and 1-2 additional shorter "bathroom break" walks every day and he's happy. More than anything, he just wants to hang out at home with me and get attention. He is not a big eater and does not whine or get snappy for his dinner when I get home (usually, he hasn't even finished his breakfast). So in short, Grace and I are extremely lucky to have such a low-maintenance dog that fits so well into our lives at this age.

5. Lastly, what is his personality/likes and dislikes?

His little personality is so precious to me. He is a quiet, shy guy most of the time, but when he sees a favorite person (which is basically any person he has ever met), he wiggles his butt (he can't really wag his tail because of it being broken previously, so he just wiggles his whole lower half) and gets VERY excited. He loves his rubber ball and Kong. His favorite foods are mozzarella string cheese, fish, and eggs. He also likes ice cream and bananas, haha! His favorite time of the day is when Grace and I are watching a movie or TV in the evening and he can lay stretched out across both of our laps. He also loves to sleep in and can easily sleep until noon. He dislikes when Grace or I are getting packed up for a trip and he's uncertain whether he will get to come with us. He also strongly dislikes rain. Thankfully, he lives in sunny LA. We adore him and pray for many more years with him in our lives. I hope you enjoyed e-meeting him!