Olive, An Adoption Story
I have always had a love for pugs, but until now, had always had greyhounds or other larger dogs. One of my greyhounds Gracie passed in August 2022, which left Nelson, (11 yrs) my other greyhound and I heartbroken. Since I am now in my 60’s, I thought that perhaps in time adopting a smaller dog, so that travel would be easier would be the thing to do.
A couple months after Gracie passed, I happened to open the Central Alberta Humane Society’s website on a Friday evening, and there, was the cutest 12 year old Pug in the world! The next morning, Nelson headed to CA Humane to see if that little fawn colored bundle would fit in our household. The moment they brought this happy wee bundle of confidence into the visiting room, I knew we would not be leaving without her. My goodness she was cute!
She met with Nelson in an outside area, and they both kind of looked at one another and said “hmm, ok, whatever”. We went for a nice long walk together and thankfully there were no issues between the two of them. Frankly, they were both more interested in sniffing every tree, and cranny along the way. Olive with her short little legs had no issues keeping up with Nelson’s long strides. In fact, most of the time she lead the way!
Olive came home with us that day, and within a couple hours, she had her new home figured out. She was shown the back door once, as the place to go for bathroom breaks, and let me know with her funny wee woof when she was hungry or wanted a treat. That evening, I brought her bed downstairs and put her beside my bed. Oh no! She was having nothing of that, and quickly informed me that my bed was also her bed. She’s a great bedmate by the way and loves to sleep in! Honestly, the look she gives me each morning as I wake, lets me now that she’d much rather sleep another hour or two. But then she rolls onto her back for a good belly rub and some smiles and our day begins.
She isn’t a fan of the cold at all. Even with her warm coat, and delightful pink booties that I purchased at the CA Humane Retail Store, she’s not impressed with winter. She literally starts to shiver when I put her coat and boots on inside the house! Needless to say, she loves going to the dog park and greets every person and dog that she meets. She’s quite a show-stopper in her boots!
I can honestly say, she’s been the best addition to my household. She’s affectionate, adorable, and the best company I could have asked for. Nelson is a wonderful boy too, but snuggling with a greyhound isn’t that fun because they are all pointy legs! She has claimed the edge of the lazy boy anytime I am sitting in it, and watches tv with me until she falls asleep.
We’re quite the family now, and Olive has given me so much comfort after the passing of my Mom in January. We would visit Mom together and Olive was always so excited to see the other seniors in the facility. It’s like she adores anyone with silver hair! She knew what an elevator was, and trotted happily down the hall to Mom’s suite. She brought great joy to Mom who was an animal lover too.
Thank you to all the staff at the Central Alberta Humane Society for keeping such great care of Olive, while she was in your care. We will continue to watch for your events around Central Alberta so that she can come say hello again, because as we have seen at past events, she remembers each of you, with great joy.
With kindest regards,
Maureen
