Adoptable pitbull – Sinatra!

I always wanted a golden retriever and was obsessed with them until I met Claire. Now when I look at rescue sites, I find myself oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over black dogs with white feet because of her!

I would absolutely love to adopt/rescue another dog, but at this point in our lives, Claire needs to be in a one-dog family. She is my everything and all of my attention goes to her, and I'm just not sure how she would do with another dog in her space all the time. Maybe when she is older, she will like that constant companionship, but for now, she gets the socializing that she needs from twice-a-week daycare and the dog park.

Sinatra is absolutely gorgeous and will have NO problem finding a loving home!

My perspective is naive since Tarski's been my only dog, and I've only had him for a few months, but my goodness is it hard to imagine another dog achieving the bar he's already set. He's playful, spunky and fast when outside, mellow when inside, very responsive, intelligent, and while he does have opinions, none are so strong that we've ever had to deal with training a headstrong dog. I mean, he's just so good...

Everybody who meets him, and especially when people come over, cannot believe that a young, small terrier mix will sit on his mat in a stay while people come in, take off their shoes and get settled before he comes up to sniff and say hello.

He's not perfect. He's not what I would call a particularly empathetic dog (he's never shown any interest in comforting upset humans, like I hear other dogs do), and he's rather aloof with other dogs, but all in all, he's been a great fit for us.

We have done a lot of work with him, but it wouldn't be right to take all the credit. I think a lot has to do with his personality and intelligence. He's submissive without being a pushover for other dogs, and no matter what he's doing he likes to be in tune with what we're doing. I don't know how I could've trained him if he didn't care to please us (or only cared to get the treat).

Of course, that doesn't stop me from getting on PetFinder every couple weeks...

I wouldn't change my dog for another dog in the world but I do think we should have been more careful in our choice of dog. Belle has a higher mental energy level and plays rough with D.O.G. Also, she roams more and causes him to roam more. We've spent so much time training her that we haven't trained him better. So back to the drawing board and getting him better trained.

Good job for being picky and still looking!! It's hard to stick to your guns but its nice to know that sometimes you need to.

Good Luck Sinatra!!!

This post came at the perfect time and thank you Sean for your comments! We adore our Dog #1 and would love a second dog but I have such high expectations. I worry about not getting a second Dog #1 who fits so perfectly into our lives. I don't want to be disappointed in Dog #2 which is entirely NOT his/her fault!

Sinatra is so beautiful! <3

Cute guy!

Just wanted to comment on this: "Frankly, we have extremely high, possibly unrealistic expectations for our second dog."

I know it's a topic you've written about before. Throwing my two cents in for maintaing that high expectation - even if you're going to err to the point of being unrealistic, being more conservative is definitely better than loosening up the standard.

I love my dogs. However, dog #2 turned out to be very different than anyone predicted when he was adopted (including his foster). His motivations were misunderstood, his behavior due to upheaval misunderstood, his attachment misunderstood (plus, he was not his full adult self yet). He is a wonderful dog and would have done well in many households. I love the guy, and he and dog #1 do get along well, playing fun dog wrestling games, keeping each other company, and so on.

While everyone involved in the adoption process could understand dog #2's energy level pretty accurately - which was a good match for me & dog #1 - he has other "personality" aspects that do influence dog #1's quality of life, as well as the entire household. Dog #1 is more of a mature serious working dog type, and dog #2 is a happy-go-lucky dog type. There are activities that dog #2 loves that are not remotely of interest to dog #1 or are affirmatively stressful (dog#1 is vigilant and alert, wants to know what we're doing, etc.) And there are activities that dog #1 enjoys that create safety hazards for dog #2, because he's not as situationally/environmentally aware and his training & learning style require many many more "context change" repetitions to form even 85-95% level habit.

I love both dogs and they are a good energy match for each other, but it's a lot harder on me juggling dog #1's needs & dog #2's needs when I can't enjoy a whole bunch of outings and activities with the both of them at the same time. I hope that with the training I'm doing, things will get easier in the future, and I'm doing my best to gather ways to take both dogs places together in ways that are good for everyone. However, I know that some of the issues are just about the dog's personality & nature, and the reality is that you can't make 2 dogs each be the #1 priority all the time.

In hindsight, if I knew how dog #2 would have turned out, I think I would have continued searching for a different dog. Happy-go-lucky dog #2 would have done well in many different settings and had other adopters interested in him. Mature, good-natured Dog #1 would have gotten along with an entire sub-set of dogs. Maybe there is no perfect dog #2 for dog #1, and maybe some aspects of dog #1 would have turned out different if there was no dog #2 around. Who knows. So I am a big fan of waiting for the high expectation dog to show up, even if it is unrealistic.