Buckaroo

I've talked about Olive here a fair bit,  so I thought I would talk a little about Buck and the rescue organization who adopted him to us. 

Buck is a German Shorthaired Pointer mix (lab, probably) who was found with his mom and litter near the Saltan Sea in southern California.  We had been looking for a second pup for a while but non-pit, non-chihuahua are very hard to come by around us.  I found the CA GSP Rescue and started keeping an eye on their adoptable dogs.  When Buck's litter became available, I jumped. 

Neither Rush nor I had ever adopted from a rescue (Olive came from a friend who could no longer keep her), so we took the process incredibly seriously.  We answered every question on their forms in earnest and hoped to be picked.  When they contacted us to set up a time to meet the available puppies, we felt like we had won the lottery. 

A couple weeks later, we drove south to meet the awesome volunteers and the puppies.  Rush and I agreed that if we didn't think any of the pups was a good fit for Olive, we would walk away, no matter how hard it was.  Olive is not an aggressive or dominant dog but she absolutely doesn't stand for being dominated by other dogs.  I describe her as "assertive". :)  Ultimately, that probably meant we needed a more submissive dog to match her...

On the morning of the adoption, we drove out to the ranch where the adoptable dogs meet on Saturday mornings.  They introduced the adoptable pups to us (and Olive) one by one.  The first pup was definitely the most "handsome" and the most confident.  He was feisty and playful.  The second pup was, well, the "middlest".  Not as confident, not quite as handsome (a slightly goofier body shape), and the middle in terms of size.  The third was so skittish that he was trying to get out of the big pen the second he was brought in.  Eventually, he did warm up and play with all the other dogs.

We spent a couple hours throwing balls and observing all the pups (and Olive's reaction to them).  Rush and I both agreed that the middle pup would be the best choice because #1 would challenge Olive (and not in a good way).  He was the most dominant of the three, and we suspected he would try to dominate Olive eventually.  He was also ball focused which is great for exercise but could create problems because Olive is a very serious ball chaser.  #2 would occasionally chase balls and #3 was not interested.  #2 also seemed to have more confidence than #3 and a sort of "happy go lucky" attitude.

We decided to proceed and found out the puppy's foster name was Buck.  We immediately knew he was ours.  Rush had a beloved Uncle Buck, a veterinarian, who passed away 7 years ago.  We hemmed and hawed over his name for a couple days and ultimately got the blessing from Uncle Buck's family to keep Buck's name in his honor.  They were touched.

I liken getting Buck to having a second kid (of which I know nothing about).  You have one kid and you think, "ok, so this is what it's like.  This is what kids are like".  And then you have another and they're NOTHING like the first, and it's sort of a surprise!  Olive is a serious dog.  She is ready for action at any moment, sleeps with one eye open, and wants to please all the time.  Buck is the biggest goofball I can imagine.  He rolls around on his back, tosses toys for himself across the room, and gets the "zoomies", running unprovoked and unchased around the yard like a crazy dog. He is a goof and we love him.

We're so thrilled to have found a dog to complement Olive's intensity.  She's so good and patient with his antics, and he makes her more playful.

We totally recommend the CA GSP Rescue if looking to adopt a GSP in southern California.  They're dedicated to taking care of the breed and finding good homes for all of their adoptable pups.  We're so lucky to have Buck!

Our kids, Olive and Buck