This is Mor'du. Yes, like the evil villain bear from Brave, that's correct. But we brought him home last night and we have a small beany baby type bear toy that he just took to immediately. The name sprung to my mind and we looked up its meaning in google, which gave us "Big Black".
Well he's not so big right now, but he most likely will be soon.
He's an abandoned rescue pup so we're not too sure on lineage, but judging by looks he's probably got some rottweiler and some lab.
We took Odin down to the temp family's house for a "meet and greet" last night (thanks Jenn!), to make sure they could be compatible. Odin has had very little opportunity for socializing during his lifetime (he's around four or five years old, we've only had him since Fall of 2013) and he usually gets pretty stiff around other dogs. He's not mean or aggressive, just on edge.
When we arrived, Odin was immediately intrigued, even from outside the front door. So many smells!
He handled it very well, many genital sniffs were had, and there was only the faintest hint of a growl just once. The puppy in question was completely content to park himself underneath the table or chairs and just watch the fun. Very submissive and chill. Odin ambled around and hardly paid any attention to the little pups. Our worries were quickly quashed.
On our way to Mark's mom's house (we had missed a spur-of-the-moment get together earlier that evening but could still make it for cake!) all the fur blob wanted to do was snuggle up close to me and nuzzle my neck. So much cuddles! He wasn't content to just lay in my lap, he continually tried to climb up my front and perch on my shoulder. But we worked out a nice system where he got to bury his fuzzy face into my neck and my arms supported the rest of his body. Within minutes my heart was completely melted. His tiny dreaming twitches were like a hot skillet to butter.
At the party, he was a trooper. He got passed around like a hot potato but never whined or peed on anybody! He was particularly fond of wedging himself deep into the chiropractic table.
As of this point in the evening, the [yet nameless] pup was still a little wary of Odin. A hopeful family had taken him home the previous night but their other dog did not take so kindly to the little fella and there was biting. But we picked up some dinner, got home and took both dogs outside to sniff around and get used to the new surroundings. He piddled and pooped in his new yard and we praised him and he chewed on weeds and sticks. His personality quickly seeped through the shyness and soon he was bounding around, exploring and pouncing on crinkly leaves. I brought out the bear toy I mentioned earlier and he hauled it off under the grape vines, chillin' in the cool dirt and gnawing on his new friend.
Which is when we named him Mor'du.
We played until about 10:30, let him relieve himself one more time outside, and then it was into the makeshift kennel of the guest bathroom downstairs for the night. We made up a little bed for him and stuck in a nightlight so it wouldn't be pitch dark (do dogs even care about that? /shrug #firsttimepuppyparents)
As far as I can tell, he did really well for the first night. No signs of bathroom breaks and he was incredibly energetic and happy to see us in the morning. After taking him out for the morning bidness, I took him upstairs (carried him most of the way, stairs are gonna be a challenge for a while) and let the quivering, wiggling bundle of licks wake Mark up. It was quite precious to behold.
We spent a little time sitting on the floor playing with both doggies, giving Odin some extra vigorous rubs to let him know he's okay and we still love him. He's just gonna be a bit of a grump for a few weeks.
We're super excited about this big change to our lives. Thankfully I'll soon be home full time to really train the little dude and oversee him and Odin getting some good bonding time.
I'm also looking forward to a reason for getting me up out of bed in the morning to go on nice, invigorating walks before the sun chars the ground into lava.
Huzzah for puppies!!!
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