Round Two

Ten days after the passing of our beloved Leo, who shared our lives from 6.5 weeks old to just a few weeks shy of his tenth birthday, we added another Rhodesian Ridgeback pup to our family. I really didn't feel I was ready, but I guess I've fostered enough puppies to realize that "ready" is relative. Still, I'm exhausted, and not yet emotionally, physically or mentally recovered from our recent (and sudden) loss. I feel like a piece of my heart is out there, somewhere, wandering around outside of my body...

The desperate feeling, those first few days, of the need to have another Ridgeback in the house. The shocking absence of that calm, steady, 90lb presence...

I always thought I (we) would adopt our next one, an adult already raised through the puppy process by someone else.

Not to be...

This is "Kal" ("Kalo", "Kalomo"). Kalomo is a city in Zambia, adjacent to what was formerly Rhodesia (Rhodesian Ridgeback), now Zimbabwe. We had a hard time picking a name, and this is one DH suggested, pointing out that "Kal" contains the initials of our other dogs, Kansas, Airlie, Leo.  A piece of each of them. It's fitting. Plus, he seemed to answer to it (I know most people say things like this, but I've never had it happen), picking up his head and excitedly bumping both of us in the face with his snout when DH said it aloud.

He was 10.5 weeks old on Saturday when we got him (getting up at 6am to be on the road by 6:30, driving 3 hours to meet him in Tallequah, and not arriving back home til after 2pm). He's 11 weeks old tomorrow, weighs 23.4 lbs (a gain of 2.4 lbs since Saturday), and is 15 inches tall, at this time.

He's also a royal pain and is reminding me of all of the things I'd forgotten about raising Leo back in the day... I'll chronicle those misadventures here, when I have the time!