Owenn!!

The day we applied to bring Owenn home

Lizzard Loves her new pup Owenn!

We rescued Owenn (yes - with 2 'n's !!) in September from Heartland Animal Shelter. We have wanted a dog pretty much forever.....or at least since we started dating! Alas, the condo building where we lived after we got married was not dog friendly and frankly, we both probably worked too many hours to make a dog a feasible choice. Fast forward through selling that condo, living with my parents for a year, finally moving into our forever home, fencing in & landscaping our mud pit of a backyard to September, 2016. We were READY! We looked at several different shelters in our area and at many more using Petfinder.com but Chris fell in love with Owenn when we met him at Heartland (see photo above :)

He's a 2ish year old hound mix from Harlan County, Kentucky. Coincidentally, I spent a couple of weeks volunteering in Harlan County when I was in high school! He came into the the Kentucky shelter as a stray, so we knew virtually nothing about him. 

Owenn's car ride home

Since we have a gaggle of nieces and nephews and want to start a family of our own - we needed some reassurance that he would be good with kids. Though my wonderful big brother & sister in law were willing to let us borrow a nephew to test Owenn's kid friendliness; timing didn't work out. Thank goodness for the genorosity of strangers at Heartland! A woman was at the shelter with her 3 kids looking for a dog to rescue. She was willing to let her youngest interact with Owenn so we could see how he behaved! Needless to say he passed our "test" with flying colors. It was clear he would've rather gone home with the little girl than with us!!

Here are things we know about Owenn, now that he's been a part of our family for 4+ months:

-He loves my parents' dog Willa

Doggy cousin love

-He & Willa are terrible influences on each other & it is virtually impossible for 1 adult to walk them both. If you try, you may find yourself getting reprimanded by a stranger whose dog Owenn tried to bite and tehn the local police for the same reason. You also may lose track of Owenn causing a good samaritan to call & text Chris & I while we were in CO to let us know he picked up our dog on a busy road.
-Raisins are a favorite food of Owenn's. They also happen to be toxic. The price of said raisins rises considerably when a visit to the emergency veterinarian is required. We might know this from personal experience..... 

Owenn didn't want to be admitted at the doggy ER

-Owenn loves squeak toys. He doesn't destroy them (unless he is with Willa.....or his cousins Leah & Raina, Then he'll destroy & ingest whatever dismembered parts he can. He also might throw up the tail of a toy on your bedroom rug at 5am when you are trying to get out the door to the airport. Just maybe.)
-Chasing squirrels up trees & watching them is Owenn's God given talent. He takes every opportunity to showcase this talent. It can make walks very slow. It also means he can entertain himself in the backyard for hours at a time!

Squirrel watching

-The golf course we live near is the best thing that has ever happened to our pooch. He was a little touchy around other dogs the first week or two we had him home from the shelter, just nervous & sometimes growly. We started walking him on the golf course when the weather turned a bit cooler (& there was less chance of getting clobbered by an errant golf ball) and found a fantastic community of other dog owners and their dogs! Owenn runs, plays, chases, wrestles with any/all willing dogs! He doesn't show aggression - just unbridled hopefulness for a playmate!

Looking for friends on the golf course

-The beach we live near is the 2nd best thing to happen to Owenn. Though he was SUPER skeptical of the waves at first; he's warmed up to it. He splashes & runs & plays with his cousins (or any other willing dog who is there). The only issue? He barks more than any other time at the beach. He barks like a wild dog at the beach. He hardly ever barks away from the beach......its strange.

Sandy faced at the beach

-If you let us bring Owenn to your house for a visit, he will pee in the house at least once. Apparently this "marking" behavior is common in male dogs. Its a big fucking drag though. We travel with pet odor remover/cleaner, so at least we're prepared :/
-Owenn weighs 55ish pounds and sleeps in the same bed at his PA cousin who tips the scales at whopping 16 pounds. He likes to be cozy.

Curled up in a tiny ball is best :)

-If given the opportunity, Owenn will eat anything/everything left out on a countertop & make himself ill as a result. Its a really cute habit. We are desperately trying to break him of it.
-Walking Chris to the train in the morning is one of Owenn's favorite parts of the day. Though he really likes it when Chris works from home so he can supervise from his bed in Chris' office!

Owenn's morning commute - walking Chris to the train.

So that's our newest 4 legged family member! We love him & are so glad we finally found a dog to bring into our forever home! We hope you can meet Owenn soon :)