Want to know what has been keeping me so busy? A new dog! Meet Nia:
Nia was a stray who found her way to a family friend’s house. She did not have a collar on, is not microchipped, and they couldn’t find anyone near who was missing a dog. The family could not keep her, already owning 2 dogs, 9 cats, and 16 horses, so we took Brinkley to meet her. I did not think we would come home with a dog, despite the fact that we decided we were ready. Brinkley is selective with the dogs he likes, and I thought it would be hard to find a new friend for him.
When we got out of the car, she came bounding over to us and she and Brink immediately hit it off. She seemed to sense the things he doesn’t like other dogs to do (sniff his rear, dominate him, etc). So, after several hours, she came home with us.
After much discussion, we named her Nia. The vet thinks she’s about 9 months old, which puts her birthday around the time Jake left us. I can’t help but feel like our buddy hand-picked his replacement in some weird way. The consensus among the vet staff and just about anyone who meets her is that she’s a lab/rottweiler mix, AKA a rottador according to one of the vet techs who has her own. She has a large head with rott bone structure, and she has the lab black coat, sweetness and smile. Nia is such a love.
She really loves my husband, which makes me happy since Brink has always been partial to me, but she is not picky with her love. Already, she has won over my in-laws, my sister, and my mom. Brinkley continues to love her, expressing none of the jealously issues he had with Jake, and romping with her anytime she wants. She has a lot of that puppy energy still, which is a lot of fun to have around the house. We’re starting to work on obedience training, and will enroll her in a class through our county park program. With a dog this big already, she needs to know who’s boss.
Her tail is docked, which could mean it was injured at some point, but I can’t help but think whomever had her first did it due to the rottweiler in her. But who knows. She wags what she has very happily; my husband calls her Nia Nubbins because of it.
She’s not fixed yet, but has an appointment in a week. I’m adamant about not contributing to the animal overpopulation.
We are all happy to be a two-dog house again. It feels good to have that much more love in our life, and Nia has lots of love to give us.
Brinkley is happy to have a new BFF, and she really wears him out.
