Say hello to the newest member of our family, Ochi!
Ryan and I weren’t planning on adopting a new pup so quickly after the loss of Yukon… but life happens.
We spent this past weekend backpacking in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area outside of Tucson. Dogs aren’t allowed in the rec area itself (which is partially why Ryan picked it), and when we set up our tent and crawled inside, Ryan and I both remarked about how lonely it was without our adventure buddy.
We always brought Yukon along with us on our hikes and camping trips if they were dog-friendly.
After our trip, we were back in my Jeep and heading north toward Phoenix to get home to Flagstaff. I pulled up Facebook on my phone (we didn’t have cell service for our trip) and the first post I saw was a post about a forgotten 5-year-old husky named “Dubai” who had been in the Maricopa County shelter for a very long time.
I begged Ryan to stop at the shelter since it was on our way home so we could go meet this dog.
Ryan has been ready for a new dog since before we lost Yukon, so he was happy to oblige.
We got to the shelter, walked up to the front desk and asked if we could have a meet-and-greet with Dubai.
The front desk staff told us that Dubai hadn’t had any visitors! At all! They also told us we were just a few minutes too late for a meet-and-greet. We were about to leave, but they asked us to wait and said they would see what they could do.
We took a seat under a big bulletin board that featured Dubai as one of the long-term residents of the shelter.
That broke our hearts.
After a few minutes of waiting, the shelter let us know that they were able to squeeze us in. So we sat patiently and waited. At one point, I had to get up and use the bathroom, which was on the other side of the building through the kennels.
I walked back through “Breezeway A,” and near the end of the hallway… was Dubai!
I knelt down to his level and reached my hand out. He was super timid and hesitant, but so sweet!
I ran back to tell Ryan he was PERFECT.
I actually forgot to use the bathroom I was so excited.
A few minutes later, Ryan and I were escorted to a little fenced play area outside, where Dubai was brought out to us.
The fantastic shelter worker let us know that he’s a little better with women than men, and then she seemed incredibly surprised when Dubai ran up to Ryan to sniff him.
Other than that, he ignored us (typical husky behavior) and zoomied his entire way around the play area. He had a full tail curl and seemed really intrigued by other dogs.
After about three minutes of conversation, Ryan and I said we would take him, then and there.
We filled out the paperwork, took his leash and loaded him up in the back of my Jeep!
We took him back to Flagstaff, gave him his dinner and set up a crate for him. We were pretty hands off with him the first night and just let him sniff around everything and lay on our bedroom floor.
And leave clumps of fur everywhere.
We know it’s probably been a huge adjustment for him after a year in the shelter. He didn’t eat the first night (we’re giving him the same food he had in the shelter with some wet food mixed in as well because — to quote Ryan — “he DESERVES it”) but we’ve been really patient with him.
We also renamed him Очі/ Ochi, which is the Ukrainian word for “eyes.”
By the second day (Monday), Ochi was warming up to us a bit. He let us give him some belly rubs and started accepting treats from Ryan.
Ryan took him in to work on Monday, and he met a lot of Ryan’s coworkers. He was very well-behaved… except for the part where he wiggled out of his harness and escaped.
Husky things.
Luckily, we had a Garmin GPS collar on him so Ryan was able to find him and wrestle him back into his harness easily.
Ochi got a little bit of socialization with our friend Tyler’s husky, Aspen, while he was at work with Ryan. We’re not sure how he’ll do with other dogs (which admittedly has us a bit nervous) but we’re hoping he will slowly acclimate to other pups and make friends. The shelter notes we received when we adopted him make us fairly optimistic about that possibility.
Ryan took Tuesday (yesterday) and today off work to help get Ochi a little more situated. Ochi got a nice bath, brushing and teeth cleaning at a professional groomer yesterday night, and he has a vet appointment scheduled for Friday to make sure everything is OK with him.
Once he’s a little more acclimated to his new home, we’re planning on introducing him to other dogs, some dogsitters and the doggy daycare facilities that we use.
Ochi has been coming out of his shell quite a bit already. He started playing with Ryan yesterday, accepted a dental treat and has started to become more comfortable with laying on the couch and approaching us both for attention. He’s figured out how to use our apartment’s doggie door and he seems to have a strange habit of accidentally smacking his head against things.
He’s also very vocal already! He whines quite a bit when he wants to go outside (he’s discovered the mouse living in our side yard) and has started howling and talking a little bit with Ryan.
We know that Ochi will never, ever replace Yukon. And while Ochi does have some similarities to Yukon — huskies have very distinct breed attributes, after all — his personality is already so different.
We’re so excited to have this baby boy in our lives and can’t wait to bring him along on all our adventures!
